---
sidebar_label: GitHub Pages
description: Deploy your Docusaurus app for production on GitHub Pages.
---

# Deploying to GitHub Pages

```mdx-code-block
import Tabs from '@theme/Tabs';
import TabItem from '@theme/TabItem';
```

Docusaurus provides an easy way to publish to [GitHub Pages](https://pages.github.com/), which comes free with every GitHub repository.

## Overview {/* #github-pages-overview */}

Usually, there are two repositories (at least two branches) involved in a publishing process: the branch containing the source files, and the branch containing the build output to be served with GitHub Pages. In the following tutorial, they will be referred to as **"source"** and **"deployment"**, respectively.

Each GitHub repository is associated with a GitHub Pages service. If the deployment repository is called `my-org/my-project` (where `my-org` is the organization name or username), the deployed site will appear at `https://my-org.github.io/my-project/`. If the deployment repository is called `my-org/my-org.github.io` (the _organization GitHub Pages repo_), the site will appear at `https://my-org.github.io/`.

:::info

In case you want to use your custom domain for GitHub Pages, create a `CNAME` file in the `static` directory. Anything within the `static` directory will be copied to the root of the `build` directory for deployment. When using a custom domain, you should be able to move back from `baseUrl: '/projectName/'` to `baseUrl: '/'`, and also set your `url` to your custom domain.

You may refer to GitHub Pages' documentation [User, Organization, and Project Pages](https://help.github.com/en/articles/user-organization-and-project-pages) for more details.

:::

GitHub Pages picks up deploy-ready files (the output from `docusaurus build`) from the default branch (`master` / `main`, usually) or the `gh-pages` branch, and either from the root or the `/docs` folder. You can configure that through `Settings > Pages` in your repository. This branch will be called the "deployment branch".

We provide a `docusaurus deploy` command that helps you deploy your site from the source branch to the deployment branch in one command: clone, build, and commit.

## `docusaurus.config.js` settings {/* #docusaurusconfigjs-settings */}

First, modify your `docusaurus.config.js` and add the following params:

| Name | Description |
| --- | --- |
| `organizationName` | The GitHub user or organization that owns the deployment repository. |
| `projectName` | The name of the deployment repository. |
| `deploymentBranch` | The name of the deployment branch. It defaults to `'gh-pages'` for non-organization GitHub Pages repos (`projectName` not ending in `.github.io`). Otherwise, it needs to be explicit as a config field or environment variable. |

These fields also have their environment variable counterparts which have a higher priority: `ORGANIZATION_NAME`, `PROJECT_NAME`, and `DEPLOYMENT_BRANCH`.

:::warning

GitHub Pages adds a trailing slash to Docusaurus URLs by default. It is recommended to set a `trailingSlash` config (`true` or `false`, not `undefined`).

:::

Example:

```js title="docusaurus.config.js"
export default {
  // ...
  url: 'https://endiliey.github.io', // Your website URL
  baseUrl: '/',
  // highlight-start
  projectName: 'endiliey.github.io',
  organizationName: 'endiliey',
  trailingSlash: false,
  // highlight-end
  // ...
};
```

:::warning

By default, GitHub Pages runs published files through [Jekyll](https://jekyllrb.com/). Since Jekyll will discard any files that begin with `_`, it is recommended that you disable Jekyll by adding an empty file named `.nojekyll` file to your `static` directory.

:::

## Environment settings {/* #environment-settings */}

| Name | Description |
| --- | --- |
| `USE_SSH` | Set to `true` to use SSH instead of the default HTTPS for the connection to the GitHub repo. If the source repo URL is an SSH URL (e.g. `git@github.com:facebook/docusaurus.git`), `USE_SSH` is inferred to be `true`. |
| `GIT_USER` | The username for a GitHub account that **has push access to the deployment repo**. For your own repositories, this will usually be your GitHub username. Required if not using SSH, and ignored otherwise. |
| `GIT_PASS` | Personal access token of the git user (specified by `GIT_USER`), to facilitate non-interactive deployment (e.g. continuous deployment) |
| `CURRENT_BRANCH` | The source branch. Usually, the branch will be `main` or `master`, but it could be any branch except for `gh-pages`. If nothing is set for this variable, then the current branch from which `docusaurus deploy` is invoked will be used. |
| `GIT_USER_NAME` | The `git config user.name` value to use when pushing to the deployment repo |
| `GIT_USER_EMAIL` | The `git config user.email` value to use when pushing to the deployment repo |

GitHub enterprise installations should work in the same manner as github.com; you only need to set the organization's GitHub Enterprise host as an environment variable:

| Name          | Description                                     |
| ------------- | ----------------------------------------------- |
| `GITHUB_HOST` | The domain name of your GitHub enterprise site. |
| `GITHUB_PORT` | The port of your GitHub enterprise site.        |

## Deploy {/* #deploy */}

Finally, to deploy your site to GitHub Pages, run:

```mdx-code-block
<Tabs>
<TabItem value="bash" label="Bash">
```

```bash
GIT_USER=<GITHUB_USERNAME> yarn deploy
```

```mdx-code-block
</TabItem>
<TabItem value="windows" label="Windows">
```

```batch
cmd /C "set "GIT_USER=<GITHUB_USERNAME>" && yarn deploy"
```

```mdx-code-block
</TabItem>
<TabItem value="powershell" label="PowerShell">
```

```powershell
cmd /C 'set "GIT_USER=<GITHUB_USERNAME>" && yarn deploy'
```

```mdx-code-block
</TabItem>
</Tabs>
```

:::warning

Beginning in August 2021, GitHub requires every command-line sign-in to use the **personal access token** instead of the password. When GitHub prompts for your password, enter the PAT instead. See the [GitHub documentation](https://docs.github.com/en/authentication/keeping-your-account-and-data-secure/creating-a-personal-access-token) for more information.

Alternatively, you can use SSH (`USE_SSH=true`) to log in.

:::

## Triggering deployment with GitHub Actions {/* #triggering-deployment-with-github-actions */}

[GitHub Actions](https://help.github.com/en/actions) allow you to automate, customize, and execute your software development workflows right in your repository.

The workflow examples below assume your website source resides in the `main` branch of your repository (the _source branch_ is `main`), and your [publishing source](https://help.github.com/en/github/working-with-github-pages/configuring-a-publishing-source-for-your-github-pages-site) is configured for [publishing with a custom GitHub Actions Workflow](https://docs.github.com/en/pages/getting-started-with-github-pages/configuring-a-publishing-source-for-your-github-pages-site#publishing-with-a-custom-github-actions-workflow).

Our goal is that:

1. When a new pull request is made to `main`, there's an action that ensures the site builds successfully, without actually deploying. This job will be called `test-deploy`.
2. When a pull request is merged to the `main` branch or someone pushes to the `main` branch directly, it will be built and deployed to GitHub Pages. This job will be called `deploy`.

Here are two approaches to deploying your docs with GitHub Actions. Based on the location of your deployment repository, choose the relevant tab below:

- Source repo and deployment repo are the **same** repository.
- The deployment repo is a **remote** repository, different from the source. Instructions for this scenario assume [publishing source](https://help.github.com/en/github/working-with-github-pages/configuring-a-publishing-source-for-your-github-pages-site) is the `gh-pages` branch.

```mdx-code-block
<Tabs>
<TabItem value="same" label="Same">
```

While you can have both jobs defined in the same workflow file, the original `deploy` workflow will always be listed as skipped in the PR check suite status, which is not indicative of the actual status and provides no value to the review process. We therefore propose to manage them as separate workflows instead.

<details>
<summary>GitHub action files</summary>

Add these two workflow files:

:::warning Tweak the parameters for your setup

If your Docusaurus project is not at the root of your repo, you may need to configure a [default working directory](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-workflows/workflow-syntax-for-github-actions#example-set-the-default-shell-and-working-directory), and adjust the paths accordingly.

:::

<Tabs>
  <TabItem value="npm" label="npm">

```yml title=".github/workflows/deploy.yml"
name: Deploy to GitHub Pages

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
    # Review gh actions docs if you want to further define triggers, paths, etc
    # https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-workflows/workflow-syntax-for-github-actions#on

jobs:
  build:
    name: Build Docusaurus
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 24
          cache: npm

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci
      - name: Build website
        run: npm run build

      - name: Upload Build Artifact
        uses: actions/upload-pages-artifact@v3
        with:
          path: build

  deploy:
    name: Deploy to GitHub Pages
    needs: build

    # Grant GITHUB_TOKEN the permissions required to make a Pages deployment
    permissions:
      pages: write # to deploy to Pages
      id-token: write # to verify the deployment originates from an appropriate source

    # Deploy to the github-pages environment
    environment:
      name: github-pages
      url: ${{ steps.deployment.outputs.page_url }}

    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Deploy to GitHub Pages
        id: deployment
        uses: actions/deploy-pages@v4
```

```yml title=".github/workflows/test-deploy.yml"
name: Test deployment

on:
  pull_request:
    branches:
      - main
    # Review gh actions docs if you want to further define triggers, paths, etc
    # https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-workflows/workflow-syntax-for-github-actions#on

jobs:
  test-deploy:
    name: Test deployment
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 24
          cache: npm

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci
      - name: Test build website
        run: npm run build
```

  </TabItem>
  <TabItem value="yarn" label="Yarn">

```yml title=".github/workflows/deploy.yml"
name: Deploy to GitHub Pages

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
    # Review gh actions docs if you want to further define triggers, paths, etc
    # https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-workflows/workflow-syntax-for-github-actions#on

jobs:
  build:
    name: Build Docusaurus
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 24
          cache: yarn

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: yarn install --frozen-lockfile
      - name: Build website
        run: yarn build

      - name: Upload Build Artifact
        uses: actions/upload-pages-artifact@v3
        with:
          path: build

  deploy:
    name: Deploy to GitHub Pages
    needs: build

    # Grant GITHUB_TOKEN the permissions required to make a Pages deployment
    permissions:
      pages: write # to deploy to Pages
      id-token: write # to verify the deployment originates from an appropriate source

    # Deploy to the github-pages environment
    environment:
      name: github-pages
      url: ${{ steps.deployment.outputs.page_url }}

    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Deploy to GitHub Pages
        id: deployment
        uses: actions/deploy-pages@v4
```

```yml title=".github/workflows/test-deploy.yml"
name: Test deployment

on:
  pull_request:
    branches:
      - main
    # Review gh actions docs if you want to further define triggers, paths, etc
    # https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-workflows/workflow-syntax-for-github-actions#on

jobs:
  test-deploy:
    name: Test deployment
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 24
          cache: yarn

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: yarn install --frozen-lockfile
      - name: Test build website
        run: yarn build
```

  </TabItem>
</Tabs>

</details>

```mdx-code-block
</TabItem>
<TabItem value="remote" label="Remote">
```

A cross-repo publish is more difficult to set up because you need to push to another repo with permission checks. We will be using SSH to do the authentication.

1. Generate a new [SSH key](https://help.github.com/en/github/authenticating-to-github/generating-a-new-ssh-key-and-adding-it-to-the-ssh-agent). Since this SSH key will be used in CI, make sure to not enter any passphrase.
2. By default, your public key should have been created in `~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub`; otherwise, use the name you've provided in the previous step to add your key to [GitHub deploy keys](https://developer.github.com/v3/guides/managing-deploy-keys/).
3. Copy the key to clipboard with `pbcopy < ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub` and paste it as a [deploy key](https://developer.github.com/v3/guides/managing-deploy-keys/#deploy-keys) in the deployment repository. Copy the file content if the command line doesn't work for you. Check the box for `Allow write access` before saving your deployment key.
4. You'll need your private key as a [GitHub secret](https://help.github.com/en/actions/configuring-and-managing-workflows/creating-and-storing-encrypted-secrets) to allow Docusaurus to run the deployment for you.
5. Copy your private key with `pbcopy < ~/.ssh/id_rsa` and paste a GitHub secret with the name `GH_PAGES_DEPLOY` on your source repository. Copy the file content if the command line doesn't work for you. Save your secret.
6. Create your [documentation workflow](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/use-cases-and-examples/creating-an-example-workflow) in the `.github/workflows/` directory. In this example it's the `deploy.yml` file.

At this point, you should have:

- the source repo with the GitHub workflow set with the private SSH key as the GitHub Secret, and
- your deployment repo set with the public SSH key in GitHub Deploy Keys.

<details>

<summary>GitHub action file</summary>

:::warning

Please make sure that you replace `actions@github.com` with your GitHub email and `gh-actions` with your name.

This file assumes you are using Yarn. If you use npm, change `cache: yarn`, `yarn install --frozen-lockfile`, `yarn build` to `cache: npm`, `npm ci`, `npm run build` accordingly.

:::

```yml title=".github/workflows/deploy.yml"
name: Deploy to GitHub Pages

on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]
  push:
    branches: [main]

permissions:
  contents: write

jobs:
  test-deploy:
    if: github.event_name != 'push'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 24
          cache: yarn
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: yarn install --frozen-lockfile
      - name: Test build website
        run: yarn build
  deploy:
    if: github.event_name != 'pull_request'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 24
          cache: yarn
      - uses: webfactory/ssh-agent@v0.5.0
        with:
          ssh-private-key: ${{ secrets.GH_PAGES_DEPLOY }}
      - name: Deploy to GitHub Pages
        env:
          USE_SSH: true
        run: |
          git config --global user.email "actions@github.com"
          git config --global user.name "gh-actions"
          yarn install --frozen-lockfile
          yarn deploy
```

</details>

```mdx-code-block
</TabItem>
</Tabs>
```

<details>

<summary>Site not deployed properly?</summary>

After pushing to main, if you don't see your site published at the desired location (for example, it says "There isn't a GitHub Pages site here", or it's showing your repo's README.md file), try the following:

- Wait about three minutes and refresh. It may take a few minutes for GitHub pages to pick up the new files.
- Check your repo's landing page for a little green tick next to the last commit's title, indicating the CI has passed. If you see a cross, it means the build or deployment failed, and you should check the log for more debugging information.
- Click on the tick and make sure you see a "Deploy to GitHub Pages" workflow. Names like "pages build and deployment / deploy" are GitHub's default workflows, indicating your custom deployment workflow failed to be triggered at all. Make sure the YAML files are placed under the `.github/workflows` folder, and that the trigger condition is set correctly (e.g., if your default branch is "master" instead of "main", you need to change the `on.push` property).
- Under your repo's Settings > Pages, make sure the "Source" (which is the source for the _deployment_ files, not "source" as in our terminology) is set to "gh-pages" + "/ (root)", since we are using `gh-pages` as the deployment branch.

If you are using a custom domain:

- Verify that you have the correct DNS records set up if you're using a custom domain. See [GitHub pages documentation on configuring custom domains](https://docs.github.com/en/pages/configuring-a-custom-domain-for-your-github-pages-site/about-custom-domains-and-github-pages). Also, please be aware that it may take up to 24 hours for DNS changes to propagate through the internet.

</details>
