clerk-deploy-integration

Configure Clerk for deployment on various platforms. Use when deploying to Vercel, Netlify, Railway, or other platforms, or when setting up production environment. Trigger with phrases like "deploy clerk", "clerk Vercel", "clerk Netlify", "clerk production deploy", "clerk Railway".

Quality

83%

Does it follow best practices?

Impact

Pending

No eval scenarios have been run

Securityby

Risky

Do not use without reviewing

Clerk Deploy Integration

Overview

Deploy Clerk-authenticated applications to Vercel, Netlify, Railway, and other hosting platforms. Covers environment variable configuration, domain setup, and webhook endpoint configuration.

Prerequisites

Clerk production instance with pk_live_ / sk_live_ keys
Production domain configured
Hosting platform account

Instructions

Step 1: Vercel Deployment

# Add Clerk env vars to Vercel
vercel env add NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY production
# Paste: pk_live_...
vercel env add CLERK_SECRET_KEY production
# Paste: sk_live_...
vercel env add CLERK_WEBHOOK_SECRET production
# Paste: whsec_...

# Add for preview deployments too
vercel env add NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY preview
vercel env add CLERK_SECRET_KEY preview

Configure Clerk Dashboard for Vercel:

Go to Dashboard > Domains and add your production domain
Set Home URL: https://myapp.com
Set Sign-in URL: https://myapp.com/sign-in
Set Sign-up URL: https://myapp.com/sign-up
Set After sign-in URL: https://myapp.com/dashboard

Step 2: Netlify Deployment

# Add env vars via Netlify CLI
netlify env:set NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY pk_live_...
netlify env:set CLERK_SECRET_KEY sk_live_...

For Netlify Functions (serverless API routes):

// netlify/functions/clerk-auth.ts
import { createClerkClient } from '@clerk/backend'

const clerk = createClerkClient({ secretKey: process.env.CLERK_SECRET_KEY! })

export async function handler(event: any) {
  const token = event.headers.authorization?.replace('Bearer ', '')
  if (!token) {
    return { statusCode: 401, body: JSON.stringify({ error: 'No token' }) }
  }

  try {
    const session = await clerk.sessions.verifySession(token, token)
    return {
      statusCode: 200,
      body: JSON.stringify({ userId: session.userId }),
    }
  } catch {
    return { statusCode: 401, body: JSON.stringify({ error: 'Invalid token' }) }
  }
}

Step 3: Railway Deployment

# Set env vars via Railway CLI
railway variables set NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=pk_live_...
railway variables set CLERK_SECRET_KEY=sk_live_...
railway variables set CLERK_WEBHOOK_SECRET=whsec_...

Step 4: Docker Deployment

# Dockerfile
FROM node:20-alpine AS builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci
COPY . .
# Build-time env vars (public key only)
ARG NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY
ENV NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=$NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY
RUN npm run build

FROM node:20-alpine AS runner
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=builder /app/.next/standalone ./
COPY --from=builder /app/.next/static ./.next/static
COPY --from=builder /app/public ./public
# Runtime env vars (secret key injected at runtime, not baked into image)
# CLERK_SECRET_KEY set via docker run -e or docker-compose
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["node", "server.js"]

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  app:
    build:
      context: .
      args:
        NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY: pk_live_...
    environment:
      - CLERK_SECRET_KEY=sk_live_...
      - CLERK_WEBHOOK_SECRET=whsec_...
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"

Step 5: Post-Deployment Verification

#!/bin/bash
# scripts/verify-deployment.sh
set -euo pipefail

DOMAIN="${1:-https://myapp.com}"

echo "Checking deployment at $DOMAIN..."

# 1. Homepage loads
STATUS=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" "$DOMAIN")
echo "Homepage: HTTP $STATUS"

# 2. Sign-in page accessible
STATUS=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" "$DOMAIN/sign-in")
echo "Sign-in: HTTP $STATUS"

# 3. Health check (if implemented)
curl -s "$DOMAIN/api/clerk-health" | python3 -m json.tool 2>/dev/null || echo "No health endpoint"

# 4. Webhook endpoint reachable
STATUS=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" -X POST "$DOMAIN/api/webhooks/clerk")
echo "Webhook endpoint: HTTP $STATUS (400/405 expected without valid payload)"

Output

Platform-specific environment variables configured
Clerk Dashboard domains and URLs set for production
Docker multi-stage build with proper secret handling
Post-deployment verification script
Webhook endpoint accessible at production URL

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
500 on sign-in page	Missing `CLERK_SECRET_KEY`	Add secret key to platform env vars
Webhook signature fails	Wrong endpoint URL	Update URL in Clerk Dashboard > Webhooks
CORS error	Domain not in allowed origins	Add production domain in Clerk Dashboard > Domains
Redirect loop after deploy	Sign-in URL misconfigured	Check `NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_SIGN_IN_URL` matches route
Docker build missing PK	Not passed as build arg	Add `--build-arg NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=...`

Examples

Vercel Preview Deployment with Clerk

# Configure Clerk for Vercel preview deployments
# Use test keys for preview, live keys for production
vercel env add NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY preview  # pk_test_...
vercel env add CLERK_SECRET_KEY preview                    # sk_test_...
vercel env add NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY production  # pk_live_...
vercel env add CLERK_SECRET_KEY production                   # sk_live_...

Resources

Next Steps

Proceed to clerk-webhooks-events for webhook configuration.

Repository: jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins-plus-skills
Commit: 70e9fa4

Last updated: 5 days ago
Created: 5 days ago

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