When deploying your project on Vercel, you might encounter build errors that prevent your site from going live. Here are some ways to identify common issues and steps to resolve them.
Analyzing the Build Log
The first step in debugging is to carefully examine the build log. Look for these common issues:
NPM Package Errors
Update Required: If you see messages about outdated packages, try updating them in your package.json file.
Legacy Peer Dependencies: For errors related to peer dependencies, you might need to use the -legacy-peer-deps flag in your build command.
Memory Issues
If your build is failing due to memory constraints, you might see an error like this:
FATAL ERROR: Ineffective mark-compacts near heap limit Allocation failed - JavaScript heap out of memory
This indicates that your build process is running out of memory. To resolve this:
- Try optimizing your build process to use less memory.
- Increase the memory limit for Node.js in your build command:
NODE_OPTIONS="--max_old_space_size=4096" npm run build
Build Not Starting
If your build doesn’t even start, check:
- Is your build command correctly specified in the Vercel configuration?
- Are all necessary environment variables set in your Vercel project settings?
Local vs. Vercel Build Discrepancies
Sometimes there are discrepancies due to differences between your local environment and Vercel’s build environment. If your project builds locally but fails on Vercel, you could try:
Using vercel build Locally
First, make sure you have the Vercel CLI installed: npm i -g vercel. Running vercel build will simulate the Vercel build environment and can help identify issues specific to Vercel.
File Check-in
Ensure all necessary files are checked into your remote repository. Common mistakes include:
- Forgetting to add new files to git
- Ignoring important configuration files
https://git-scm.com/about/branching-and-merging
Package Dependencies
Verify that all required packages are listed in your package.json file. Sometimes, packages installed globally on your local machine might be missing from the project dependencies.
Node.js Version
Specify the exact version of Node.js (or any other required runtime) in your vercel.json file or from Project Settings.
Differences in Operating Systems
When developing locally, you might be using macOS or Windows, but Vercel’s build environment runs on a Linux-based system. These can lead to issues such as:
Case Sensitivity: Linux filesystems are case-sensitive, while macOS and Windows are not. This means that files referenced with incorrect casing (e.g., import UserProfile from ‘./userProfile’ instead of import UserProfile from ‘./UserProfile’) might work locally but fail on Vercel.
Make sure that all file paths are consistent with case-sensitive naming to avoid issues during the build.
File Permissions: Some operating systems handle file permissions differently. Files with incorrect permissions may not execute as expected on Vercel.
Make sure that the files that need to be executable have the correct permissions. You can adjust file permissions locally and commit those changes to your repo if necessary.
Environment Variables and Secrets
On your local machine, you might have environment variables set in a .env file or in your terminal session. However, these environment variables may not be available in Vercel unless they are explicitly set in the Vercel dashboard.
Double-check that all required environment variables are defined in Project Settings > Environment Variables on Vercel.
Conclusion
If you’ve followed the troubleshooting steps and are still encountering issues, let us know and we’re more than happy to try and support.
Thanks for being part of the Vercel Community!