Deploy (or publish) HTML from Claude Code

Deploy a project vs publish a file

The word people search for is "deploy," but the right verb depends on what Claude Code just handed you. A deploy ships a project: a directory of files, often with a build step, tracked as a site you maintain over time with previews, rollbacks, and a dashboard. A publish ships a finished file: the agent calls one tool, you get one URL, done. Deploy platforms are genuinely the better tool when Claude Code is building you an application. A publish primitive is the better tool when it is handing you a one-off report, spec, or dashboard you want to send to one or two people.

The four options below split cleanly along that line. Netlify, Vercel, and Cloudflare Pages deploy a folder to a platform you own. Stacktree publishes a single file over MCP. Each section covers how an agent triggers it, whether a build runs, how auth works, whether you can go account-free, and what each is best for.

Netlify CLI

How an agent triggers it. Claude Code runs the Netlify CLI in a shell. A production deploy is netlify deploy --prod (short form netlify deploy -p). A bare folder of static files ships with netlify deploy --dir=public --prod.

Build or not. No build is required. You can deploy a bare directory with --dir and no framework, or let Netlify run a build for a framework project.

Auth. Interactive OAuth via netlify login (browser authorization, token stored in config), or a Personal Access Token passed through the NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN environment variable for automation.

Anonymous or not. Netlify is the one deploy platform here with a true no-account path: netlify deploy --allow-anonymous creates a project, deploys it, and generates a live URL, giving you one hour to claim ownership by logging in or creating an account.

MCP. Netlify ships an official MCP server, the Netlify MCP Server, as the npm package @netlify/mcp (run via npx -y @netlify/mcp). It is a local stdio server, not a remote URL, and it lets code agents create, manage, build, and deploy projects. It requires Node.js 22+ and a Netlify account.

Best for. Static or framework sites you want to maintain on Netlify, especially the rare case where you want a live URL with no account up front.

Vercel CLI

How an agent triggers it. Claude Code runs vercel (equivalent to vercel deploy); a production deploy uses vercel --prod. The deployment URL is always written to stdout, which is convenient for an agent to capture.

Build or not. The CLI operates on a Vercel project. Running vercel in a directory sets up or links a project (prompts can be skipped with --yes, and agent environments default to non-interactive). A directory of static files can be deployed, but it is associated with a Vercel project rather than a bare anonymous upload.

Auth. Interactive vercel login, or token-based auth via the --token flag (short form -t) or the VERCEL_TOKEN environment variable (recommended for CI).

Anonymous or not. A Vercel account is required. The docs describe no anonymous, no-account deploy path.

MCP. Vercel ships an official remote OAuth MCP server, Vercel MCP, at https://mcp.vercel.com. It can manage projects and deployments and analyze logs, and it is supported in Claude Code (added with claude mcp add --transport http vercel https://mcp.vercel.com). It only supports Vercel-approved AI clients.

Best for. Framework apps and projects on Vercel that need builds, preview deploys, and serverless or edge functions.

Cloudflare Wrangler (Pages)

How an agent triggers it. Claude Code runs npx wrangler pages deploy [directory], where [directory] is the folder of static files to upload. It can deploy a bare folder of static assets without a build or project.

Build or not. No build is required for a bare folder of static assets. Wrangler uploads the directory directly.

Auth. Interactive wrangler login (OAuth browser flow), or non-interactive via the CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN environment variable (with CLOUDFLARE_ACCOUNT_ID) for CI/CD and automation.

Anonymous or not. A Cloudflare account is required. No anonymous deploy is documented.

MCP. Cloudflare ships official remote MCP servers over OAuth, including the Cloudflare API MCP server (https://mcp.cloudflare.com/mcp), Workers Bindings, Workers Builds, and Workers Observability. Their tool sets center on managing existing Cloudflare resources rather than a one-call static upload.

Best for. Static sites and apps you run on Cloudflare's network, where you already manage other Cloudflare resources.

Stacktree (over MCP)

How an agent triggers it. Claude Code calls the publish_html tool over MCP. Install once with npx stacktree-install (or claude mcp add stacktree -- npx -y stacktree-mcp), then ask Claude Code to publish the file it wrote. The server exposes publish_html, update_site, set_expiry, set_password, set_email_gate, list_sites, and delete_site.

Build or not. No build, no repo, no project. Stacktree hosts static HTML directly. The unit is a single file, not a directory you deploy.

Auth. The installer signs you in via your browser. You can also publish anonymously over the raw API: curl -X POST https://api.stacktr.ee/sites -F file=@index.html works with no account and no API key.

Anonymous or not. Yes. The first publish is anonymous: Stacktree mints an unguessable URL that lives for 24 hours, with no account. Signed-in sites persist and can be replaced in place.

Private by default. Every URL is unguessable (for example stacktr.ee/p/RwJjpE3kA…), so the link is the credential. You can layer an optional shared password and an optional email-domain gate verified by magic link. update_site replaces the contents at the same URL, so a bookmarked link always renders the latest revision.

Best for. The single finished HTML file Claude Code emits: a report, a spec, a status writeup, a one-file dashboard, that you want to send privately without it becoming a repository or a tracked project.

Side by side

When to use which

Be honest about the split. If Claude Code is building you an application, a folder with a build, a framework, server logic, a site you will maintain, the deploy platforms win and it is not close. Use the Vercel CLI for framework apps that want fast builds, preview deploys, and functions. Use Cloudflare Pages via Wrangler when you live on Cloudflare's network. Use the Netlify CLI for static or framework sites on Netlify, and for the unusual case where you want a live URL with no account at all.

If Claude Code is handing you a single finished HTML file, a report, a spec, a one-off dashboard, the deploy model is overkill. There is no project, nothing to build, and no reason to create one to share one page. That is where Stacktree fits: an agent calls publish_html, you get a private unguessable URL, and update_site replaces it in place as the agent iterates. It hosts static HTML only, so it is not an app platform like Vercel and not a maintained-site host like Pages. For the file an agent just wrote, that narrowness is the point. See how agents publish HTML over MCP and the Claude Code publish primitive.