Deploy to Netlify

Netlify deploys an AeroLaunch theme in 2 minutes, same shape as Vercel and Cloudflare Pages. Pick Netlify specifically if you’re using Netlify Forms for your contact form (see Contact form → Netlify) — that integration only works on Netlify hosting.

Option A — Connect a Git repository

1. Push your theme to GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket.

   git init
   git add .
   git commit -m "Initial commit"
   git push -u origin main

2. Import on Netlify: app.netlify.com/start → select your provider → pick the repo.

3. Build settings — Netlify usually auto-detects Astro. If not:

   Setting	Value
   Base directory	empty (root)
   Build command	npm run build
   Publish directory	dist
   Node version	20 (set via env)

4. The bundled netlify.toml (in every theme) already sets this:

   netlify.toml

   [build]
     command = "npm run build"
     publish = "dist"
   
   [build.environment]
     NODE_VERSION = "20"

   If you delete that file, configure the settings in the Netlify dashboard.

5. Deploy. First build takes ~1–2 minutes.

Option B — Netlify CLI

npm install -g netlify-cli
netlify login
npm run deploy:netlify

The bundled script maps to:

npm run build && npx netlify deploy --prod --dir=dist

First run links the local folder to a new Netlify site; subsequent runs publish to the same site.

Netlify Forms (contact form)

If you set contactForm: { provider: "netlify" } in site.ts, the Contact section renders a form with data-netlify="true" and a hidden form-name input. Netlify’s build pipeline scans deploys for those attributes and registers the form automatically.

After the first deploy:

1. Settings → Forms → you should see the form listed as “contact”.
2. Notifications → Add notification → Email → enter your inbox.
3. Submit the form once to test. Submissions appear in Forms → Submissions.

Spam protection

Netlify’s free tier includes basic honeypot. To upgrade:

• Honeypot — add <input name="bot-field" /> and netlify-honeypot="bot-field" to the form. Already wired in the bundled component.
• reCAPTCHA v2 — enable in Settings → Forms → Spam filters.

Custom success page

By default, after submitting the form Netlify redirects to a generic success page. To redirect to your own:

1. Create src/pages/thanks.astro (or similar).

2. In Contact.astro, add a hidden input inside the <form>:

   <input type="hidden" name="success_url" value="/thanks/" />

…or use the action attribute on the form for a same-page redirect:

<form name="contact" method="POST" data-netlify="true" action="/thanks/">

Custom domain

1. Project → Domain management → Add custom domain.
2. Enter your domain (e.g. aurora.dev).
3. Netlify gives you DNS records. Most apex domains use ALIAS / ANAME records that point to Netlify’s load balancer; subdomains use a CNAME.
4. SSL is automatic.

See Custom domain for the deeper guide.

Common gotchas

Form doesn’t show up in Forms tab after deploy

Three usual causes:

1. The page with the form is rendered server-side (SSR). Netlify’s form scanner only sees statically rendered HTML. AeroLaunch themes ship as output: 'static', so this should be fine — verify in astro.config.mjs.
2. The form is hidden behind JavaScript at build time. The bundled themes render forms in plain HTML, so this shouldn’t bite you.
3. You forgot the hidden <input type="hidden" name="form-name" value="contact" />. The bundled Contact.astro adds it automatically when Netlify is the provider.

Wrong Node version on build

netlify.toml ships with NODE_VERSION = "20". If you’re on a newer-only API, bump to 22. Don’t go below 18 — Astro 5 won’t run on it.

Branch deploy previews

Push a branch — Netlify auto-deploys a preview at https://branchname--your-site.netlify.app. Great for client review without touching production.

What’s next

• Custom domain — point a real domain at this build.
• Contact form → Netlify — the contact-form integration that requires Netlify hosting.
• Cloudflare Pages — alternate host.