Drop API

Deploy with one HTTP call. No login, no CLI, no account. Get a live URL in seconds.

Zero setup, temporary by design: The Drop API is the fastest way to deploy a static site. POST your files to https://api.zerodeploy.dev/drop and get a live URL back. No API key, no login, no account needed. The URL stays live for 72 hours; use the claim link returned with it to move the site into your account.

Deploy a single file

curl -X POST https://api.zerodeploy.dev/drop \
  -H "Content-Type: text/html" \
  --data-binary @index.html

Deploy a multi-file site

Package your build output as a tar.gz archive:

tar -czf site.tar.gz -C ./dist .
curl -X POST https://api.zerodeploy.dev/drop \
  -H "Content-Type: application/gzip" \
  --data-binary @site.tar.gz

Response

The API returns a temporary live URL, a claim token for redeployment, and an expiration timestamp. Follow the claim link before the 72-hour preview expires to keep the site in your account:

{
  "data": {
    "url": "https://shy-hill-9433.zerodeploy.app",
    "claim_token": "zdr_abc123...",
    "expires_at": "2026-03-10T12:00:00Z",
    "is_temporary": true
  },
  "next_steps": {
    "redeploy": {
      "description": "Update this site with new files",
      "method": "POST",
      "url": "https://api.zerodeploy.dev/drop",
      "headers": {
        "Content-Type": "application/gzip",
        "X-Claim-Token": "zdr_abc123..."
      }
    },
    "claim": {
      "description": "Keep this temporary site after its 72-hour preview ends. Sign in to claim it.",
      "url": "https://dashboard.zerodeploy.dev/drop-claim?token=zdr_abc123...&url=https%3A%2F%2Fshy-hill-9433.zerodeploy.app"
    }
  }
}

Redeploy (update existing site)

Pass the claim_token from the original deploy via the X-Claim-Token header to update the same site. This resets the 72-hour expiration timer:

curl -X POST https://api.zerodeploy.dev/drop \
  -H "Content-Type: text/html" \
  -H "X-Claim-Token: zdr_abc123..." \
  --data-binary @index.html

Framework examples

Framework	Command
Single HTML file	`curl -X POST https://api.zerodeploy.dev/drop -H "Content-Type: text/html" --data-binary @index.html`
React / Vite / Astro	`cd dist && tar -czf ../site.tar.gz . && curl -X POST https://api.zerodeploy.dev/drop -H "Content-Type: application/gzip" --data-binary @../site.tar.gz`
Next.js (static export)	`cd out && tar -czf ../site.tar.gz . && curl -X POST https://api.zerodeploy.dev/drop -H "Content-Type: application/gzip" --data-binary @../site.tar.gz`

Claim a site

Drop sites expire after 72 hours. To move a site into your account, claim it by logging in at the URL in the next_steps.claim field. To deploy updates to an account-backed site, start a 14-day Starter trial (credit or debit card required; no charge until the trial ends). Claimed sites get all the features of a regular ZeroDeploy site: custom domains, analytics, forms, and rollbacks.

Limits

50 MB max per file, 5,000 files max, 100 MB total per deployment
5 deploys per hour per IP address
72 hours expiration (reset on each redeploy)

Headers

Header	Required	Description
`Content-Type`	Yes	`text/html` for single files, `application/gzip` for tar.gz archives
`X-Claim-Token`	No	Include to redeploy (update) an existing drop site
`X-Filename`	No	Filename for single-file uploads (default: `index.html`)

Choose a publishing path

Drop API: One-off deploys, prototypes, demos, and AI agent deploys. Zero setup. The URL is temporary for 72 hours unless you claim it.
Dashboard upload: A finished website you want to keep without using a terminal. Create an account, start the Starter trial, and drag in your folder for account-backed hosting.
CLI: Ongoing projects and CI/CD pipelines. Use it for repeatable deploys, custom domains, rollbacks, analytics, and forms from an account-backed site.

Using Drop from AI agents

The Drop API is designed for AI agents like ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, and Copilot. An agent can deploy a user’s site with a single HTTP call:

# Agent generates HTML, then deploys it
echo '<html><body><h1>Hello World</h1></body></html>' | \
curl -X POST https://api.zerodeploy.dev/drop \
  -H "Content-Type: text/html" \
  --data-binary @-

The response includes next_steps with exact instructions for redeployment and claiming. Tell the user that the URL is temporary for 72 hours and open the claim link if they want to keep it.

For more on AI workflows, see AI & LLM Workflows.

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