Vercel API — MCP Server & REST API

You are an expert in the Vercel platform APIs. This plugin bundles a connection to the official Vercel MCP server (https://mcp.vercel.com) which gives agents live, authenticated access to Vercel resources.

MCP Server (Public Beta)

The plugin's .mcp.json configures the official Vercel MCP server using Streamable HTTP transport with OAuth authentication. The MCP server is in public beta — read-only in the initial release. Write operations are on the roadmap. Supported clients: Claude, Cursor, and VS Code.

Connection

URL:       https://mcp.vercel.com
Transport: Streamable HTTP
Auth:      OAuth 2.1 (automatic — agent is prompted to authorize on first use)

On first connection the agent will open a browser-based OAuth flow to grant read access to your Vercel account. Subsequent sessions reuse the stored token.

Available MCP Tools

The Vercel MCP server exposes these tool categories (read-only in initial release):

Usage Patterns

Diagnose a failed deployment

1. List recent deployments → find the failed one
2. Inspect deployment → get error summary
3. Query build logs → identify root cause
4. Cross-reference with vercel-functions skill for runtime fixes

Audit project configuration

1. Get project details → check framework, build settings, root directory
2. List environment variables → verify required vars are set per environment
3. List domains → confirm production domain is correctly assigned
4. Check deployment logs → look for runtime warnings

Search documentation

1. Search Vercel docs for a topic → get relevant pages
2. Read specific doc page → extract configuration examples
3. Cross-reference with bundled skills for deeper guidance

Debug function performance

1. Query function logs → find slow invocations
2. Inspect deployment → check function region, runtime, memory
3. Cross-reference with vercel-functions skill for optimization patterns

Deploying Your Own MCP Server

Use the mcp-handler package (renamed from @vercel/mcp-adapter) to build and deploy custom MCP servers on Vercel with Next.js, Nuxt, or SvelteKit:

npm install mcp-handler

MCP servers deployed on Vercel use Streamable HTTP transport (replaced SSE in March 2025 MCP spec) — cuts CPU usage vs SSE with no persistent connections required. Used in production by Zapier, Composio, Vapi, and Solana.

See Deploy MCP servers to Vercel and GitHub: mcp-handler.

REST API (Direct Access)

When the MCP server doesn't cover a use case (or for write operations), use the Vercel REST API directly with @vercel/sdk or curl.

Authentication

# Bearer token auth (personal token or team token)
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $VERCEL_TOKEN" https://api.vercel.com/v9/projects

// @vercel/sdk
import { Vercel } from '@vercel/sdk';

const vercel = new Vercel({ bearerToken: process.env.VERCEL_TOKEN });

Key Endpoints

SDK Examples

List deployments

import { Vercel } from '@vercel/sdk';

const vercel = new Vercel({ bearerToken: process.env.VERCEL_TOKEN });

const { deployments } = await vercel.deployments.list({
  projectId: 'prj_xxxxx',
  limit: 10,
});

for (const d of deployments) {
  console.log(`${d.url} — ${d.state} — ${d.created}`);
}

Manage environment variables

// List env vars
const { envs } = await vercel.projects.getProjectEnv({
  idOrName: 'my-project',
});

// Create env var
await vercel.projects.createProjectEnv({
  idOrName: 'my-project',
  requestBody: {
    key: 'DATABASE_URL',
    value: 'postgres://...',
    target: ['production', 'preview'],
    type: 'encrypted',
  },
});

Get project domains

const { domains } = await vercel.projects.getProjectDomains({
  idOrName: 'my-project',
});

for (const d of domains) {
  console.log(`${d.name} — verified: ${d.verified}`);
}

Observability APIs

Drains (/v1/drains)

Drains forward logs, traces, speed insights, and web analytics data to external endpoints. All drain management is REST API or Dashboard (https://vercel.com/dashboard/{team}/~/settings/log-drains) only — no CLI commands exist.

import { Vercel } from '@vercel/sdk';

const vercel = new Vercel({ bearerToken: process.env.VERCEL_TOKEN });

// List all drains
const drains = await vercel.logDrains.getLogDrains({ teamId: 'team_xxxxx' });

// Create a drain
await vercel.logDrains.createLogDrain({
  teamId: 'team_xxxxx',
  requestBody: {
    url: 'https://your-endpoint.example.com/logs',
    type: 'json',
    sources: ['lambda', 'edge', 'static'],
    environments: ['production'],
  },
});

For payload schemas (JSON, NDJSON), signature verification, and vendor integration setup, see ⤳ skill: observability.

Runtime Logs (/v3/deployments/:id/events)

Stream runtime logs for a deployment. The response uses application/stream+json — each line is a separate JSON object. Always set a timeout to avoid hanging on long-lived streams.

// Query via MCP (recommended for agents)
// Use the get_runtime_logs MCP tool for structured log access

// Direct REST alternative (streaming)
const res = await fetch(
  `https://api.vercel.com/v3/deployments/${deploymentId}/events`,
  { headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.VERCEL_TOKEN}` } }
);
// Parse as NDJSON — see observability skill for streaming code patterns

vercel api CLI Command (January 2026)

The vercel api command gives agents direct access to the full Vercel REST API from the terminal with no additional configuration. It uses the CLI's existing authentication, so agents like Claude Code can call any endpoint immediately.

# Call any REST endpoint directly
vercel api GET /v9/projects
vercel api GET /v13/deployments
vercel api POST /v9/projects/:id/env --body '{"key":"MY_VAR","value":"val","target":["production"]}'

This bridges the gap between the read-only MCP server and the full REST API — agents can perform write operations without needing @vercel/sdk or manual curl with tokens.

When to Use MCP vs CLI vs REST API

Cross-References

• CLI operations → ⤳ skill: vercel-cli
• Function configuration → ⤳ skill: vercel-functions
• Storage APIs → ⤳ skill: vercel-storage
• Firewall rules → ⤳ skill: vercel-firewall
• AI SDK MCP client → ⤳ skill: ai-sdk (section: MCP Integration)
• Drains, log streaming, analytics export → ⤳ skill: observability

Official Documentation

• Vercel MCP
• Vercel REST API
• @vercel/sdk
• MCP Authorization Spec
• GitHub: Vercel SDK