Game Deployment

Deploy your browser game for public access. here.now is the default — instant static hosting with zero configuration. GitHub Pages is available as an alternative when you need git-based deploys.

here.now Deployment (Default)

Prerequisites

The here-now skill installed (npx skills add heredotnow/skill --skill here-now -g)
Optional: $HERENOW_API_KEY or ~/.herenow/credentials for permanent hosting

Quick Deploy

npm run build
~/.agents/skills/here-now/scripts/publish.sh dist/

The script outputs a live URL like https://<slug>.here.now/.

Why here.now is the default

Zero config — no base path, no git repo, no GitHub CLI required
Instant — site is live immediately (no waiting for propagation)
No base path issues — content served from subdomain root (base: '/' or default)
Works everywhere — only needs curl, file, and jq

Vite base path

here.now serves from the subdomain root, so use the default base path:

export default defineConfig({
  base: '/',
  // ... rest of config
});

IMPORTANT: Claim your site within 24 hours

Without an API key, publishes are anonymous and expire in 24 hours. The publish script returns a claim URL — the user MUST visit this URL and create a free here.now account to keep the site permanently. The claim token is only shown once and cannot be recovered. If they don't claim it, the site disappears.

You MUST always tell the user about the 24-hour window and the claim URL after every anonymous publish. This is not optional.

Feature	Anonymous	Authenticated
Expiry	24 hours (then deleted!)	Permanent
Max file size	250 MB	5 GB
Rate limit	5/hour/IP	60/hour/account

To set up an API key for permanent hosting (skip the 24h window entirely):

First check if the key already exists: test -f .env && grep -q '^HERENOW_API_KEY=.' .env && echo "found" If found, export it with set -a; . .env; set +a and skip the prompt.

Otherwise:

Ask the user for their email
Send a magic link: curl -sS https://here.now/api/auth/login -H "content-type: application/json" -d '{"email": "user@example.com"}'
User clicks the link, copies their API key from the dashboard
User pastes the key like: HERENOW_API_KEY=their-key-here (saved to .env and redacted automatically)
Also save to credentials file: mkdir -p ~/.herenow && grep '^HERENOW_API_KEY=' .env | cut -d= -f2- > ~/.herenow/credentials && chmod 600 ~/.herenow/credentials

Updating a deploy

npm run build
~/.agents/skills/here-now/scripts/publish.sh dist/ --slug <slug>

The slug is saved in .herenow/state.json after each publish — the script auto-loads it for updates.

Deploy script

Add to package.json:

{
  "scripts": {
    "deploy": "npm run build && ~/.agents/skills/here-now/scripts/publish.sh dist/"
  }
}

For updates to an existing slug:

{
  "scripts": {
    "deploy": "npm run build && ~/.agents/skills/here-now/scripts/publish.sh dist/ --slug <slug>"
  }
}

GitHub Pages Deployment (Alternative)

Use GitHub Pages when you need git-based deployment or already have a GitHub repo set up.

Prerequisites

GitHub CLI installed (gh)
Git repository initialized and pushed to GitHub

Quick Deploy

npm run build && npx gh-pages -d dist

Full Setup

Build the game:

npm run build

Ensure vite.config.js has the correct base path if deploying to a subdirectory:

export default defineConfig({
  base: '/<repo-name>/',
  // ... rest of config
});

Deploy with GitHub CLI:

gh repo create <game-name> --public --source=. --push
npm install -D gh-pages
npx gh-pages -d dist

Enable GitHub Pages in repo settings (should auto-detect the gh-pages branch).

Your game is live at: https://<username>.github.io/<repo-name>/

Automated Deploys

Add to package.json:

{
  "scripts": {
    "deploy": "npm run build && npx gh-pages -d dist"
  }
}

Play.fun Registration

After deploying, register your game on Play.fun for monetization. Use the /game-creator:playdotfun skill for integration details.

The deployed URL becomes your gameUrl when registering:

await client.games.register({
  name: 'Your Game Name',
  gameUrl: 'https://<slug>.here.now/',  // or GitHub Pages URL
  maxScorePerSession: 500,
  maxSessionsPerDay: 20,
  maxCumulativePointsPerDay: 5000
});

Other Hosting Options

Vercel: npx vercel --prod (auto-detects Vite)
Netlify: Connect repo, set build command to npm run build, publish dir to dist
Railway: Use the Railway skill for deployment
itch.io: Upload the dist/ folder as an HTML5 game

Example Usage

Default (here.now)

/game-deploy

Result: Builds dist/ → publishes via here.now → game live at https://<slug>.here.now/ in seconds. Adds npm run deploy script for future one-command deploys.

GitHub Pages

/game-deploy github-pages

Result: Builds with correct base path → pushes to gh-pages branch → game live at https://<user>.github.io/<game>/ in 1-2 minutes.

Troubleshooting

here.now 429 rate limit

Cause: Too many deployments in a short period. here.now has rate limiting on anonymous deployments. Fix: Wait a few minutes and retry. For frequent deployments, consider using GitHub Pages or Vercel instead.

Anonymous here.now site expired

Cause: Anonymous here.now deployments are temporary and expire after a period of inactivity. Fix: Redeploy with npx here.now. For persistent hosting, use GitHub Pages (gh-pages branch) or Vercel, which don't expire.

GitHub Pages 404 after deployment

Cause: Vite's base path doesn't match the GitHub Pages URL structure (/<repo-name>/). Fix: Set base: '/<repo-name>/' in vite.config.js. Ensure the gh-pages branch is selected as the source in the repository's Pages settings. Wait 1-2 minutes for GitHub's CDN to propagate.

Blank page after deployment (asset paths)

Cause: Asset paths use absolute URLs (/assets/...) that don't resolve correctly on the deployment host. Fix: Use relative paths (./assets/...) or configure Vite's base option to match the deployment URL. Run npm run build locally and test the dist/ folder with a local server before deploying.

gh-pages push rejected

Cause: The remote gh-pages branch has diverged or the force push was blocked by branch protection rules. Fix: Use git push origin gh-pages --force if you own the repo and there's no branch protection. If protected, delete the remote gh-pages branch first: git push origin --delete gh-pages, then redeploy.

Pre-Deploy Checklist

npm run build succeeds with no errors
Test the production build with npm run preview
Remove any console.log debug statements
Verify all assets are included in the build
Check mobile/responsive behavior if applicable
Set appropriate <title> and meta tags in index.html