Migrate from Vercel

Move your static sites from Vercel to Alternate Futures for decentralized hosting with IPFS, Filecoin, and Arweave storage options.

Time to complete: 15-30 minutes per site

Why Migrate?

Prerequisites

1. An Alternate Futures account -- Sign up at clouds.alternatefutures.ai
2. Node.js 18+ installed
3. Your project source code (not just the Vercel deployment)

Step 1: Install and Authenticate

# Install the Alternate Futures CLI
npm install -g @alternatefutures/cli

# Authenticate
af login

Step 2: Configure Your Build

Next.js (Static Export)

Add static export to your next.config.js:

// next.config.js
const nextConfig = {
  output: 'export',    // Required for static hosting
  images: {
    unoptimized: true, // Required for static export
  },
  trailingSlash: true, // Recommended for IPFS compatibility
};

module.exports = nextConfig;

Build and deploy:

npm run build
af sites init          # Set output directory to ./out
af sites deploy

React (Vite or Create React App)

npm run build
af sites init          # Set output directory to ./dist (Vite) or ./build (CRA)
af sites deploy

Other Frameworks

Any framework that produces static output works. Set the correct output directory:

Step 3: Migrate Custom Domains

Remove Domain from Vercel

1. Go to your Vercel project settings
2. Navigate to Domains
3. Remove the domain (do not delete DNS records yet)

Add Domain to Alternate Futures

# Add the domain to your site
af domains create --siteSlug my-site --hostname example.com

# Get the required DNS records
af domains detail --hostname example.com

Update DNS Records

Update your DNS at your registrar:

For subdomains:

Type: CNAME
Name: www
Value: cname.alternatefutures.ai

For root domains:

Type: A
Name: @
Value: [IP from af domains detail]

# Verify DNS configuration
af domains verify --hostname example.com

Step 4: Migrate CI/CD

Replace Vercel GitHub Integration

Remove the Vercel GitHub integration and add an Alternate Futures deploy workflow:

Create .github/workflows/deploy.yml:

name: Deploy to Alternate Futures

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

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

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Build
        run: npm run build

      - name: Deploy
        run: npx @alternatefutures/cli sites deploy
        env:
          AF_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.AF_TOKEN }}
          AF_PROJECT_ID: ${{ secrets.AF_PROJECT_ID }}

Add Secrets

1. Go to your GitHub repository Settings > Secrets and variables > Actions
2. Add AF_TOKEN -- your personal access token (create one with af pat create --name "CI/CD")
3. Add AF_PROJECT_ID -- your project ID (find it with af projects list)

Step 5: Migrate Environment Variables

If your Vercel project uses environment variables:

1. Note your variables from Vercel project settings
2. For build-time variables, add them to your CI/CD workflow
3. For runtime variables (API routes), configure them in your Cloud Functions

Step 6: Remove Vercel

1. Remove the Vercel GitHub integration from your repository
2. Delete vercel.json from your project
3. Optionally uninstall the Vercel CLI: npm uninstall -g vercel
4. Delete the project from your Vercel dashboard

Vercel Features vs Alternate Futures

Next Steps

• Deploying Sites -- Learn about storage networks and deployment options
• Cloud Functions -- Replace Vercel serverless functions
• CI/CD Integration -- Advanced CI/CD patterns
• Custom Domains -- Full domain configuration guide