Deploy a site

DevLab produces a static site. The host serves the generated public/ directory. It does not need Zola, Python, Node.js or the theme repository at runtime.

1. Set the final URL

In your site's zola.toml, set the complete deployment address:

base_url = "https://example.com/project/"

Include /project/ when the site lives below that path. Template assets and internal routes use this prefix. Keep site links built with get_url or the DevLab route resolver. Hard-coded /js/custom.js would bypass the prefix.

Review the Publishing settings for metadata, feeds, favicon, cache headers and CSP before building.

2. Restore the theme and build

For a site using a theme submodule:

git submodule update --init --recursive
zola check --skip-external-links
zola build

Use Zola 0.23.6 or newer. A deployment pipeline must restore the recorded submodule revision instead of following its latest branch. zola check validates Markdown links. It does not verify URLs stored in Download data or site templates, so check published artifact and verification links separately.

public/ is complete deployable output. Do not upload content/, theme source or zola.toml as the website. Keep a previous successful output or commit for rollback. A preview deployment can use zola build --base-url with its own URL.

3. Upload the output

Configure the static host's upload/publish directory as public/. For a branch-based host, place the contents of that directory at the publishing branch root. Do not add a second public/ directory around the output.

Serve directory index.html files for clean routes such as /blog/. Configure the host to use the generated 404.html for missing paths. Host setup differs, so follow its current instructions in Zola's deployment documentation. The theme repository's Woodpecker workflow publishes its own demonstration. It is not a required pipeline for your site.

4. Verify the published site

Check the root and one nested page, then a route that does not exist. Inspect canonical URLs, main.css, print.css, favicon, custom assets and feeds. Open search on each indexed language and download a real artifact. Its checksum/signature links must match that file.

At a mobile width, open the menu and use Ctrl+K. Print an article containing multiple tabs and confirm that every variant is included. Check a changed stylesheet after redeploying to detect stale caches.

If the live site fails, restore the previous output or previous site commit, rebuild with its recorded theme revision and deploy again.