Deployment

Guide for deploying MCP servers to production.

⚠️ FIRST: Ensure the User is Logged In

Before any deployment command, always verify authentication:

mcp-use whoami

If this fails or the user has never logged in, run mcp-use login first — it opens a browser for OAuth.

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Quick Deploy (Manufact Cloud)

The fastest path to production — one command:

mcp-use deploy

Or via the npm script (pre-configured in all templates):

npm run deploy

Your server is live at https://{slug}.run.mcp-use.com/mcp.

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Prerequisites

Before running mcp-use deploy:

1. Logged in — run mcp-use whoami to verify, or mcp-use login if needed
2. Git repository — your project must be a git repo
3. GitHub remote — the origin remote must point to GitHub (SSH or HTTPS)
4. Changes pushed — deployment pulls from GitHub, not your local files. Commit and push first.
5. GitHub App installed — the mcp-use GitHub App must have access to the repo. The CLI will prompt you to install it if missing.

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Deploy Options

mcp-use deploy [options]

Flag	Description	Default
--name <name>	Custom deployment name	package.json name or directory name
--port <port>	Server port	3000
--runtime <runtime>	"node" or "python"	Auto-detected from project files
--env <KEY=VALUE>	Set environment variable (repeatable)	—
--env-file <path>	Load env vars from a file	—
--open	Open deployment in browser after success	false
--new	Force a fresh deployment (ignore existing link)	false

Setting Environment Variables

# Inline
mcp-use deploy --env API_KEY=sk-xxx --env DATABASE_URL=postgres://...

# From file
mcp-use deploy --env-file .env.production

NEVER commit secrets to git. Use --env or --env-file for API keys, database URLs, and other sensitive values.

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Common Mistakes

• ❌ Running mcp-use deploy without verifying auth first
  • ✅ Always run mcp-use whoami before deploying — run mcp-use login if needed
• ❌ Running mcp-use deploy with uncommitted/unpushed changes
  • ✅ The cloud builds from GitHub — always git push first
• ❌ Hardcoding secrets in code or committing .env
  • ✅ Use --env / --env-file flags, or mcp-use deployments env set
• ❌ Forgetting to install the mcp-use GitHub App on the repo
  • ✅ The CLI will prompt you, but you can also install it at github.com/apps/mcp-use
• ❌ Running mcp-use start without mcp-use build first
  • ✅ Always build before starting in production