---
title: 'Integrating Gitea & Vercel'
description: 'I share my experience integrating the open-source tool Gitea and the hosting platform Vercel for streamlined code management and deployment.'
date: 2024-03-18T01:31:47.655Z
tags: ['gitea', 'open-source', 'vercel', 'git', 'workflows']
authors: ['foggymtndrifter']
---

I'm a strong supporter of open-source software and find that the tools I choose strongly influence my development workflow. For managing my code, [including the website hosting this blog](https://git.foggymtndrifter.com/FoggyMtnDrifter/website), I use [Gitea](https://about.gitea.com). It's a fantastic, open-source version control platform that's lightweight and offers the features and security I need. One of the aspects I love is [Gitea Actions](https://docs.gitea.com/usage/actions/overview), which makes it easy to streamline my deployment process to Vercel.

## Why Gitea?

Gitea excels as a self-hosted, open-source version control platform. If you like having flexibility and control over your development setup, it's a compelling alternative to larger, corporate-owned code hosting solutions. With Gitea Actions (which are compatible with GitHub Actions), I can tap into the rich ecosystem of Actions from the broader development community without sacrificing the benefits of an independent, open-source platform.

## Streamlining Deployment with Vercel

Let's talk about how I use Gitea Actions for deployment. Here's my `preview.yaml` workflow that enables streamlined feedback cycles. Whenever I open a pull request to the main branch, this workflow triggers a preview deployment on Vercel. This lets me test and gather feedback before merging changes:

```yaml
name: Vercel Preview Deployment
env:
  VERCEL_ORG_ID: ${{ secrets.VERCEL_ORG_ID }}
  VERCEL_PROJECT_ID: ${{ secrets.VERCEL_PROJECT_ID }}

on:
  pull_request:
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  Deploy-Preview:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ">=18.14.1"
      - name: Install Vercel CLI
        run: npm install --global vercel@latest
      - name: Pull Vercel Environment Information
        run: vercel pull --yes --environment=preview --token=${{ secrets.VERCEL_TOKEN }}
      - name: Build Project Artifacts
        run: vercel build --token=${{ secrets.VERCEL_TOKEN }}
      - name: Deploy Project Artifacts to Vercel
        id: deploy
        run: |
          echo "::group::Deploying"
          DEPLOY_OUTPUT=$(vercel deploy --prebuilt --token=${{ secrets.VERCEL_TOKEN }} 2>&1)
          echo "$DEPLOY_OUTPUT"
          echo "::endgroup::"
          PREVIEW_URL=$(echo "$DEPLOY_OUTPUT" | grep -o 'Preview: https://[^ ]*' | awk '{print $2}')
          echo "PREVIEW_URL=$PREVIEW_URL" >> $GITHUB_ENV
          echo "::set-output name=preview_url::$PREVIEW_URL"
          if [[ -z "$PREVIEW_URL" ]]; then exit 1; fi
        continue-on-error: false
      - name: Comment on PR on Success
        if: ${{ success() && env.PREVIEW_URL }}
        uses: actions/github-script@v5
        with:
          script: |
            const previewUrl = '${{ env.PREVIEW_URL }}';
            github.rest.issues.createComment({
              issue_number: context.payload.pull_request.number,
              owner: context.repo.owner,
              repo: context.repo.repo,
              body: `Preview deployment successful.\n\nView Preview: ${previewUrl}`
            });
      - name: Comment on PR on Error
        if: ${{ failure() }}
        uses: actions/github-script@v5
        with:
          script: |
            github.rest.issues.createComment({
              issue_number: context.payload.pull_request.number,
              owner: context.repo.owner,
              repo: context.repo.repo,
              body: 'Deployment encountered an issue. Please refer to the workflow logs for more information.'
            });
```

See this workflow in action here: https://git.foggymtndrifter.com/FoggyMtnDrifter/website/pulls/3

## Production Deployments

Once the preview is approved, my `production.yaml` workflow deploys changes to my live site – it's very similar to the preview workflow, but tailored for the production environment:

```yaml
name: Vercel Production Deployment
env:
  VERCEL_ORG_ID: ${{ secrets.VERCEL_ORG_ID }}
  VERCEL_PROJECT_ID: ${{ secrets.VERCEL_PROJECT_ID }}
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
jobs:
  Deploy-Production:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ">=18.14.1"
      - name: Install Vercel CLI
        run: npm install --global vercel@latest
      - name: Pull Vercel Environment Information
        run: vercel pull --yes --environment=production --token=${{ secrets.VERCEL_TOKEN }}
      - name: Build Project Artifacts
        run: vercel build --prod --token=${{ secrets.VERCEL_TOKEN }}
      - name: Deploy Project Artifacts to Vercel
        run: vercel deploy --prebuilt --prod --token=${{ secrets.VERCEL_TOKEN }}
```

## Open Source in Practice

These workflows show how I use open-source tools to maintain a flexible and efficient approach to development. Gitea's adaptability and the seamless integration with GitHub Actions demonstrate the power of open-source in creating custom workflows without sacrificing efficiency.

## My Thoughts on This Approach

Using Gitea Actions has been a great experience for streamlining my deployment process. It highlights how open-source development enables customization and the ability to tap into community resources. If you're seeking a flexible development environment that emphasizes open-source principles, Gitea and Vercel make a powerful combination.