Vercel CLI Global Options

Global options are commonly available to use with multiple Vercel CLI commands.

The --cwd option can be used to provide a working directory (that can be different from the current directory) when running Vercel CLI commands.

This option can be a relative or absolute path.

vercel --cwd ~/path-to/project

The --debug option, shorthand -d, can be used to provide a more verbose output when running Vercel CLI commands.

vercel --debug

The --global-config option, shorthand -Q, can be used to set the path to the global configuration directory.

vercel --global-config /path-to/global-config-directory

The --help option, shorthand -h, can be used to display more information about Vercel CLI commands.

vercel --help

vercel alias --help

The --local-config option, shorthand -A, can be used to set the path to a local vercel.json file.

vercel --local-config /path-to/vercel.json

The --scope option, shorthand -S, runs a Vercel CLI command against a specific team without switching your current team. vercel login is the exception: it saves that team as your current team. Pass the team's slug or ID:

vercel --scope my-team-slug

You can specify which Vercel Project to use for a CLI command in three ways:

1. --project flag: Pass a project name or ID directly to the command
2. VERCEL_PROJECT_ID environment variable: Set the project ID as an environment variable, together with VERCEL_ORG_ID (the ID of the team that owns the project)
3. Project linking: Use the .vercel directory created by vercel link

If you provide multiple options, the CLI uses this precedence order (highest to lowest):

1. --project flag
2. VERCEL_PROJECT_ID environment variable
3. .vercel/project.json from project linking

# Using the --project flag with a project name
vercel deploy --project my-project
 
# Using the --project flag with a project ID
vercel deploy --project prj_abc123
 
# Using the environment variables
VERCEL_ORG_ID=team_abc123 VERCEL_PROJECT_ID=prj_abc123 vercel deploy

The --project flag and VERCEL_PROJECT_ID both accept a project name or project ID. When using CI/CD pipelines or non-interactive environments, set VERCEL_ORG_ID and VERCEL_PROJECT_ID as environment variables to skip project linking. If you set only one of them and don't pass --project, commands that need a project, such as vercel deploy, exit with an error. See using Vercel CLI for custom workflows for more details.

You can authenticate Vercel CLI commands with an authorization token in two ways:

1. --token flag (shorthand -t): Pass the token directly to the command
2. VERCEL_TOKEN environment variable: Set the token as an environment variable

If both are provided, the --token flag takes precedence over the environment variable.

Using the VERCEL_TOKEN environment variable is recommended for CI/CD pipelines because it avoids exposing the token in command-line arguments, which can be visible in process lists and logs.

To deploy without a token or login, run vercel deploy --temporary. See Deploying without logging in.

vercel --token vcp_7ceTtedqEf96eTe7Mw32n9gjfSo23kHBHAbTrchMINrvUMZv0EXAMPLE

export VERCEL_TOKEN=vcp_7ceTtedqEf96eTe7Mw32n9gjfSo23kHBHAbTrchMINrvUMZv0EXAMPLE
vercel deploy

The --no-color option, or NO_COLOR=1 environment variable, can be used to execute Vercel CLI commands with no color or emoji output. This respects the NO_COLOR standard.

vercel login --no-color

The --version option, shorthand -v, outputs the current version number of Vercel CLI.

vercel --version

The --non-interactive option runs a Vercel CLI command without interactive prompts. Use it for CI/CD pipelines, scripts, and agent environments. When the CLI detects that it is running under an agent, non-interactive mode is the default.

vercel deploy --non-interactive

Use the CLI's exit code to distinguish success, operational failures, and usage errors in scripts:

--help and bare command groups print help to stdout and exit 0. Help for a command path that doesn't exist exits 2.

Some commands return other exit codes. For example, vercel env run exits with the exit code of the command that it runs.

vercel inspect --wait exits 1 when its wait times out while the deployment is still in progress.