---
title: "Deploy the Prototype"
description: "Run three vendor requests, record the results, and verify who can access your deployment."
canonical_url: "https://vercel.com/academy/enterprise-apps-agents/deploy-the-prototype"
md_url: "https://vercel.com/academy/enterprise-apps-agents/deploy-the-prototype.md"
docset_id: "vercel-academy"
doc_version: "1.0"
last_updated: "2026-10-28T18:11:30.499Z"
content_type: "lesson"
course: "enterprise-apps-agents"
course_title: "Enterprise Apps and Agents"
prerequisites:  []
---

<agent-instructions>
Vercel Academy — structured learning, not reference docs.
Lessons are sequenced.
Adapt commands to the human's actual environment (OS, package manager, shell, editor) — detect from project context or ask, don't assume.
The lesson shows one path; if the human's project diverges, adapt concepts to their setup.
Preserve the learning goal over literal steps.
Quizzes are pedagogical — engage, don't spoil.
Quiz answers are included for your reference.
</agent-instructions>

# Deploy the Prototype

# Deploy the prototype

Vendor Review starts with one useful job: an employee describes a proposed software vendor, and AI identifies missing information and suggests a risk level.

Before improving it, establish what the application does today and who can reach it.

## Deploy your copy

Deploy the starter and create a copy in your GitHub account:

[![Deploy with Vercel](https://vercel.com/button)](https://vercel.com/new/clone?repository-url=https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2Fvercel%2Facademy-starters%2Ftree%2Fmain%2Fenterprise-apps-agents%2Fstarter\&project-name=vendor-review\&repository-name=academy-enterprise-apps-agents)

The flow copies the course's `starter` folder into a new repository on your GitHub account, creates a Vercel project from it, and deploys Vendor Review. Keep the project’s **Root Directory** at the repository root.

## Run it locally

Clone the repository Vercel created. The application lives at its root. Clone the course checkpoints next to it, too:

```bash
git clone <your-repository-url>
git clone https://github.com/vercel/academy-starters.git
cd academy-enterprise-apps-agents
git switch -c course-work
pnpm install
cp .env.example .env.local
pnpm dev
```

`origin` is your copy. `../academy-starters` holds the course's other folders: the `implementation-start` and `agent-start` checkpoints you'll copy files from later, and the finished `complete` app.

Add an AI Gateway key to `.env.local`, then submit three requests:

1. A low-cost design tool that handles no company data
2. A support service that handles customer contact information
3. An expensive analytics platform with an incomplete business purpose

Record the results you actually receive. Do not change the prompt to force a preferred answer.

## Find the first production gaps

Trace one request through the code:

| Question                          | Where to look             |
| --------------------------------- | ------------------------- |
| What can an employee submit?      | `app/page.tsx`            |
| Where does the model call happen? | `app/api/assess/route.ts` |
| What shape comes back?            | The route response        |
| Where is the request stored?      | It is not stored yet      |

Refreshing the page clears the result. The application cannot yet prove what was submitted, which model produced the assessment, or what a person ultimately decided.

In `docs/readiness.md`, under **Prototype baseline**, record the three inputs, their results, and anything inconsistent or surprising. Use fictional vendor details throughout the course; do not submit company or customer data.

## Protect the deployment

Open the Vercel project created by the button and confirm the production URL renders Vendor Review and can complete an assessment. Leave `AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY` unset in Preview and Production so the AI SDK uses the project’s automatically supplied Vercel OIDC identity. A static key is still appropriate for local development or a non-Vercel runtime.

The `complete` branch is the finished reference. Keep `main` as the production branch for this baseline project so a later branch preview does not silently replace it.

Before sharing the URL, follow the [Deployment Protection](https://vercel.com/docs/deployment-protection) instructions and enable Vercel Authentication for the URLs you intend to test. Standard Protection is available on all plans, but it does not protect a custom production domain. To protect all production and preview URLs, including the custom production domain, choose **All Deployments** with Vercel Authentication. It doesn't need a paid add-on; the [plan comparison](https://vercel.com/docs/deployment-protection/usage-and-pricing) lists what each plan includes. Verify the exact production and preview URLs in a private browser window and record which ones are protected.

Make one small change on a branch and confirm the pull request creates a protected preview:

```text
commit → protected preview → review → merge → protected production
```

Add the production URL, the Vercel team that owns the project, the source repository, and the protection checks to `docs/readiness.md`.

Commit the baseline before the application changes:

```bash
git add docs/readiness.md
git commit -m "docs: record prototype baseline"
```

## Summary

You now have a record of the prototype's behavior, its deployment URLs, and the team responsible for them. Deployment Protection limits who can reach the protected URLs; it does not add request storage or approval logic.

## Check your work

Open the production URL in a private browser. It should require authentication. Then locate the exact Git commit behind that deployment in Vercel and name the team that can ship the next one. Record any URL that fails the private-browser check as a gap, and do not share it for internal use until protection is verified.


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