conditional deployment based on commit changes

Author: letsgogeeky

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -3,8 +3,28 @@ name: CI
 on:
   push:
     branches: [main]
+    paths-ignore:
+      - "**.md"
+      - "LICENSE"
+      - "CODE_OF_CONDUCT"
+      - ".github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/**"
+      - ".vscode/**"
+      - ".editorconfig"
+      - ".prettierrc*"
+      - ".prettierignore"
+      - "public/llms.txt"
   pull_request:
     branches: [main]
+    paths-ignore:
+      - "**.md"
+      - "LICENSE"
+      - "CODE_OF_CONDUCT"
+      - ".github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/**"
+      - ".vscode/**"
+      - ".editorconfig"
+      - ".prettierrc*"
+      - ".prettierignore"
+      - "public/llms.txt"
 
 jobs:
   ci:

scripts/should-deploy.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Vercel Ignored Build Step
+# Exit 0 → skip build. Exit 1 → proceed with build.
+#
+# Skips the Vercel deployment when every changed file is documentation-only
+# (markdown, license, editor config, GitHub templates, etc.).
+# Any change to app code, data, dependencies, or config triggers a deploy.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# First deploy has no previous SHA — always build.
+if [ -z "${VERCEL_GIT_PREVIOUS_SHA:-}" ]; then
+  echo "→ First deploy — building."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+CHANGED=$(git diff --name-only "$VERCEL_GIT_PREVIOUS_SHA" "$VERCEL_GIT_COMMIT_SHA" 2>/dev/null)
+
+if [ -z "$CHANGED" ]; then
+  echo "→ No changed files — skipping."
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+# Patterns that never require a Vercel deploy
+DOCS_PATTERN='^(.*\.md|LICENSE|CODE_OF_CONDUCT|\.github/.*|\.vscode/.*|\.editorconfig|\.prettierrc.*|\.prettierignore|public/llms\.txt)$'
+
+while IFS= read -r file; do
+  if ! echo "$file" | grep -qE "$DOCS_PATTERN"; then
+    echo "→ Deploy triggered by: $file"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+done <<< "$CHANGED"
+
+echo "→ Docs-only change — skipping deploy."
+exit 0

vercel.json

@@ -2,5 +2,6 @@
   "framework": "nextjs",
   "buildCommand": "next build",
   "installCommand": "npm ci",
+  "ignoreCommand": "bash scripts/should-deploy.sh",
   "crons": [{ "path": "/api/cron/sync-health", "schedule": "0 2 * * *" }]
 }