Hosting a Gatsby site on Vercel can be an excellent choice due to Vercel’s robust infrastructure and ease of use. However, like any hosting platform, there can be some common issues that developers might encounter. Understanding these challenges and their solutions can help streamline the hosting process.
One of the frequent issues is build failures. This can occur due to incorrect environment variables, missing dependencies, or unsupported APIs during the build process. To troubleshoot, ensure all required environment variables are correctly set in Vercel’s dashboard, and check the build logs for any error messages that can guide you to the missing components.
Upon deployment, some users notice performance bottlenecks, especially if the Gatsby site is fetching too much data at build time. To mitigate this, consider using dynamic imports and ensuring data fetching is optimized. Vercel’s analytics tools can help identify slower parts of your site that may need refactoring.
Vercel’s ability to create preview deployments for each pull request is a handy feature, but it can sometimes lead to discrepancies between the preview and production environment. Make sure to sync your environments, and carefully configure branch-specific settings to ensure consistency.
Gatsby sites often require redirects which can be tricky. In Vercel, you need to correctly configure the vercel.json file to manage custom redirects effectively. Ensure you’re familiar with Vercel’s redirect syntax to avoid misconfigurations.
If your Gatsby site uses API routes, ensure that they are correctly set up in the api directory in Vercel. Misconfigured routes can lead to 404 errors. Double-check that the file names and function exports align with Vercel’s requirements for API route handling.
By addressing these common issues preemptively, you can ensure a smoother deployment and hosting experience for your Gatsby site on Vercel.