Deploy the Convex Backend
Create a Convex deployment, configure environment variables, and push functions and schema.
The Convex backend hosts your schema, queries, mutations, actions, and scheduled jobs. This page covers deploying it — the web app is deployed separately to a hosting provider of your choice (see Deploy to Vercel for one option).
1. Create a Deployment
Go to the Convex dashboard and create a new deployment (or select an existing one). Note the deployment identifier — it looks like friendly-wolf-872.
Convex distinguishes deployments by prefix:
prod:— production deployments (e.g.prod:friendly-wolf-872)dev:— development deployments (e.g.dev:adorable-coyote-841)
You will use this prefix when deploying from the command line or CI.
2. Set Environment Variables
In the Convex dashboard, select your deployment and go to Settings → Environment Variables. Add the following:
| Variable | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
CLERK_JWT_ISSUER_DOMAIN | Yes | Clerk JWT issuer domain for token verification |
EMAIL_FROM | No | Verified sender address (e.g. OpenSana <noreply@opensana.dev>) |
RESEND_API_KEY | No | Resend API key for transactional email |
These run inside Convex functions at runtime. They are not the same as the Next.js environment variables you configure in your web hosting provider — see Environment Variables for the full breakdown.
3. Deploy Functions and Schema
From the apps/web directory, run npx convex deploy with the target deployment. There are two ways to specify the target:
Option A: Using CONVEX_DEPLOYMENT
Pass the deployment identifier with the prod: or dev: prefix:
# Production
CONVEX_DEPLOYMENT="prod:friendly-wolf-872" npx convex deploy
# Development
CONVEX_DEPLOYMENT="dev:adorable-coyote-841" npx convex deployOption B: Using a Deploy Key
Create a Deploy Key in the Convex dashboard under Settings → General → Deploy Keys. The key is a single string that includes both the deployment target and an authentication secret — useful for CI/CD pipelines.
CONVEX_DEPLOY_KEY="prod:friendly-wolf-872|sk_deploy_..." npx convex deployCopy the full key from the dashboard.
Both options push the schema, functions, and components (e.g. the Resend integration) to the target deployment. The command also runs TypeScript type checking by default.
4. Verify the Deployment
After a successful deploy, check the Convex dashboard:
- Functions tab shows your deployed queries, mutations, and actions
- Components tab shows mounted components (e.g.
resend) — they should not say "unmounted" - Data tab shows your tables once the schema is pushed