Netlify

Netlify offers powerful continuous deployment with branch previews and instant rollbacks.

Deploy Methods

Option 1: Build with GitHub Actions (Recommended)

Build in CI, then deploy the static output:

yaml

name: Deploy to Netlify

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Install Stardust
        run: curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nexlabstudio/stardust/dev/install.sh | bash

      - name: Build
        run: stardust build

      - name: Deploy to Netlify
        uses: nwtgck/actions-netlify@v3
        with:
          publish-dir: './dist'
          production-branch: main
          github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          deploy-message: "Deploy from GitHub Actions"
        env:
          NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN }}
          NETLIFY_SITE_ID: ${{ secrets.NETLIFY_SITE_ID }}

Add secrets to your repository:

NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN: From app.netlify.com/user/applications
NETLIFY_SITE_ID: From your site's settings

Option 2: Install During Build

Configure Netlify to install Stardust:

Connect your repository at app.netlify.com
Configure build settings:
- Build command: curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nexlabstudio/stardust/dev/install.sh | bash && stardust build
- Publish directory: dist
Deploy

Configuration File

Create netlify.toml for configuration-as-code:

toml

[build]
  command = "curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nexlabstudio/stardust/dev/install.sh | bash && stardust build"
  publish = "dist"

[build.environment]
  # Environment variables for build

# Redirects
[[redirects]]
  from = "/old-page"
  to = "/new-page"
  status = 301

# Headers
[[headers]]
  for = "/assets/*"
  [headers.values]
    Cache-Control = "public, max-age=31536000, immutable"

Custom Domain

Go to Site settings → Domain management
Add your custom domain
Configure DNS:

Type	Name	Value
CNAME	docs	your-site.netlify.app

Or use Netlify DNS for automatic configuration.

Update stardust.yaml:

yaml

url: https://docs.myproject.com

Deploy Previews

Netlify automatically creates preview deployments for pull requests:

Unique URL for every PR
Comment on PR with preview link
Test changes before merging

Configure in netlify.toml:

toml

[context.deploy-preview]
  command = "curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nexlabstudio/stardust/dev/install.sh | bash && stardust build"

Branch Deploys

Deploy specific branches to subdomains:

toml

[context.branch-deploy]
  command = "curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nexlabstudio/stardust/dev/install.sh | bash && stardust build"

# Specific branch configuration
[context.staging]
  command = "curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nexlabstudio/stardust/dev/install.sh | bash && stardust build"

Access at staging--your-site.netlify.app

Environment Variables

Set in Netlify dashboard or netlify.toml:

toml

[build.environment]
  ANALYTICS_ID = "UA-XXXXX-X"

For sensitive values, use the Netlify dashboard under Site settings → Environment variables.

Redirects and Rewrites

In netlify.toml

toml

# Redirect
[[redirects]]
  from = "/old-url"
  to = "/new-url"
  status = 301

# Rewrite (proxy)
[[redirects]]
  from = "/api/*"
  to = "https://api.example.com/:splat"
  status = 200

In _redirects file

Create public/_redirects:

/old-url  /new-url  301
/docs/*   /guide/:splat  301

Headers

toml

[[headers]]
  for = "/*"
  [headers.values]
    X-Frame-Options = "DENY"
    X-Content-Type-Options = "nosniff"

[[headers]]
  for = "/assets/*"
  [headers.values]
    Cache-Control = "public, max-age=31536000, immutable"

Forms

Netlify Forms work with static sites. Add a form to your markdown:

html

<form name="contact" method="POST" data-netlify="true">
  <input type="text" name="name" required />
  <input type="email" name="email" required />
  <button type="submit">Send</button>
</form>

Troubleshooting

Build Fails

Check the deploy log in Netlify. Common issues:

Bash not available (rare)
Permission issues with install script

404 on Routes

Add to netlify.toml:

toml

[[redirects]]
  from = "/*"
  to = "/index.html"
  status = 200

Or ensure your output includes proper HTML files.

Slow Builds

Consider Option 1 (GitHub Actions) for faster builds with caching.

CLI Deployment

Deploy manually using Netlify CLI:

bash

# Install CLI
npm install -g netlify-cli

# Login
netlify login

# Deploy
stardust build
netlify deploy --prod --dir=dist