Deploy to Helpbase Cloud
Hosted deploy is in beta. The core flow works (auth, slug reservation, content sync), but image upload and automatic cache revalidation are still in progress.
helpbase offers two deployment paths:
How hosted deploy works
content/ directory
|
v
helpbase deploy
|-- Authenticate (Supabase magic link, cached)
|-- Reserve subdomain slug
|-- Validate all articles (frontmatter + schema)
|-- Upload articles to Supabase
|-- Upload categories to Supabase
v
company.helpbase.dev is live
First deploy walkthrough
Run the deploy command
From your helpbase project directory:
npx helpbase deploy
Authenticate via magic link
Enter your email when prompted. Check your inbox for the magic link and click it. The CLI detects the authentication automatically and caches the session.
Choose your subdomain
Pick a slug for your help center URL. The CLI checks availability in real-time:
? Choose a subdomain: my-product
✓ my-product.helpbase.dev is available!
Content uploads automatically
The CLI reads your content/ directory, validates every article against the frontmatter schema, and uploads to Supabase. You see a progress indicator for each article.
Your site is live
✓ Deployed 8 articles across 3 categories
✓ Your help center is live at https://my-product.helpbase.dev
Updating content
After the first deploy, subsequent updates are simpler:
# Edit your MDX files locally
# Then push the changes:
npx helpbase deploy
Authentication and subdomain selection are skipped (cached from the first run). Only changed articles are updated.
Self-hosted vs hosted
| Feature | Self-hosted | Hosted |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Your infrastructure | helpbase.dev |
| Domain | Your domain | company.helpbase.dev |
| Deploy | git push + CI | helpbase deploy |
| Content | Filesystem MDX | Supabase |
| Custom code | Full control | MDX components only |
| Cost | Your hosting costs | Free tier available |
You can start with hosted deploy and migrate to self-hosted later. The content format is identical. Copy your content/ directory to a scaffolded project and deploy to your own infrastructure.