Deploy multi-service projects with Vercel

Services let you deploy multiple independently-built units within a single Vercel project. The typical use case is combining different runtimes (e.g. Python + JavaScript) in one deployment with shared routing and environment variables, but services work for any combination — multiple services of the same runtime, different frameworks, or a mix.

This skill covers project structure and configuration. For the actual deployment, defer to the deployments-cicd skill.

How It Works

A service is an independently built unit within your project, deployed to the same domain under a unique subpath. At build time, Vercel builds each service separately. At request time, Vercel routes incoming requests to the correct service based on the URL path prefix (longest prefix wins).

• Services are enabled via the experimentalServices field in vercel.json (see reference project).
• vercel dev -L auto-detects frameworks and runs all services locally as one application, handling routing automatically. The -L flag (short for --local) runs without authenticating with Vercel Cloud.
• Only vercel.json lives at the root. Each service manages its own dependencies independently.

Configuration

Define services in vercel.json: