multicornLesson 2 of 6
Deploying your app
From git push to a live URL, with HTTPS as the default.
By the end: You can deploy your project and open a public HTTPS URL.
Time to get your app running somewhere other than your laptop.
Before you start
You need three things:
- Your project running on your laptop from Course 2. If you can start it up and see it work in a browser, you are good. If you cannot, go back and finish Course 2 before continuing.
- A GitHub account with your Course 2 project saved to it. If you followed Course 2, you already have this.
- An account on the hosting platform you picked. Free. You sign up using your GitHub account so the two are linked. Instructions below.
If you are not sure whether your project is on GitHub, open Cursor, look at the bottom-left corner of the window. If you see a branch name (usually main), you have Git set up. If you also see a cloud icon or "Synchronize Changes" button that is active, your project is linked to GitHub.
Deploy to Netlify
This is the guided path. You will do everything through websites (github.com and netlify.com) and Cursor's file menu. No terminal required for the main steps. If you prefer the terminal, each step has a "Prefer the terminal?" expandable with the command-line version.
Step 1: get your code on GitHub
If your project is already on GitHub from Course 2, skip to Step 2.
If not:
- Go to github.com and log in.
- In the top-right corner, click the + icon, then New repository.
- Give your repository a name (anything is fine - it will be part of your URL). Leave everything else at the defaults. Do NOT check "Add a README" or "Add .gitignore" - your project already has those files on your laptop.
- Click Create repository.
GitHub now shows you a page with setup instructions. Keep this tab open.
Go to Cursor. In the menu at the top of your screen, choose Source Control (or press Cmd+Shift+G on Mac, Ctrl+Shift+G on Windows).
In the Source Control sidebar, you will see a button labelled Publish Branch or Publish to GitHub. Click it. Cursor will ask you to choose the repository you just created on GitHub. Pick it.
What you should see: Cursor pushes your code up, a small progress bar appears, and then your GitHub repository page (the tab from earlier) shows your project files when you refresh it.
Prefer the terminal?
Open Cursor's integrated terminal (View menu → Terminal, or Ctrl+backtick). From your project folder, run each of these commands, one at a time, pressing Enter after each:
git initWhat you should see: a message saying Git has been initialised.
git add .What you should see: nothing visible. No news is good news.
git commit -m "First commit"What you should see: a summary of the files that were committed.
Now, on the GitHub page from earlier, copy the block of commands labelled push an existing repository from the command line (there's a small copy icon next to it). Paste into Cursor's terminal and press Enter.
What you should see: progress output as Git uploads your files to GitHub. Refresh the GitHub tab and your files should appear.
Step 2: import your project on Netlify
- Go to netlify.com and sign up with your GitHub account. Netlify will ask for permission to see your repositories - say yes.
- On the Netlify dashboard, click Add new site, then Import an existing project.
- Choose Deploy with GitHub. Netlify may ask you to authorise the connection again - approve it.
- You will see a list of your GitHub repositories. Find the one you just created and click it.
- Netlify asks about build settings. For most projects, it fills these in correctly. Two common cases:
- Next.js: build command is
next build, publish directory is.next. - Vite or React: build command is
npm run build, publish directory isdistorbuild.
- Next.js: build command is
- Leave the defaults and click Deploy site.
What you should see: a page with a live build log. Text scrolls past as Netlify installs your dependencies, runs your build, and uploads the result.
Step 3: watch it build
The build takes one to three minutes for a first deploy. When it finishes:
- If you see "Site is live" and a URL: click the URL. Your app is on the internet. Done. The URL will look like
random-words-123456.netlify.app. You can rename it from the Netlify dashboard under Site configuration → Change site name. - If you see "Site deploy failed": the build failed. Do not panic - this is common on the first try. Click the failed deploy and leave the tab open. Lesson 5 covers reading the error and fixing it.
From now on
Whenever you save your work to GitHub (Source Control sidebar in Cursor → Commit → Push), Netlify automatically rebuilds and redeploys your app. You do not log in to Netlify again for normal work.
Prefer the terminal for future deploys?
From your project folder, after making changes:
git add .
git commit -m "Describe what changed"
git pushNetlify picks up the push and redeploys automatically within about a minute.
Curious about other platforms?
On Vercel
Vercel follows the same pattern as Netlify: connect GitHub, pick the repo, click Deploy, get a URL. The only real differences are the button labels and a slightly different default URL shape (your-app.vercel.app instead of your-app.netlify.app). Vercel is what Multicorn itself runs on.
On Fly.io
Fly.io is different. You install a command-line tool called flyctl, run fly launch inside your project, and answer a handful of setup questions. You deploy by running fly deploy, not by pushing to GitHub. Use Fly.io when your app needs a running server (a backend API, a bot, a service with a database), not for static frontend sites.
Your progress saves in this browser only. Clearing site data will reset it.