--- name: deploy-to-connect description: >- Deploy or publish Python and R content to a Posit Connect server using rsconnect-python or the R rsconnect package. Handles interactive apps and dashboards, web APIs, rendered documents, and prepared bundles/manifests. Use whenever the user asks to deploy, publish, or redeploy content to Posit Connect, or mentions rsconnect. Consult this skill instead of guessing flags or commands. metadata: author: posit-pbc version: "2.0" --- # Deploying to Posit Connect This skill deploys **both Python and R content** to **Posit Connect**. Work through the stages in order. Two toolchains are involved: - **Python** — [rsconnect-python](https://github.com/posit-dev/rsconnect-python), which provides the `rsconnect` CLI and is published on PyPI. - **R** — the R [`rsconnect`](https://rstudio.github.io/rsconnect/) package, targeting the Connect **server** (not Connect Cloud). **As you go, record every decision, install, fallback, and assumption** so you can report them at the end — this is what makes the run auditable and self-healing rather than silent. --- ## Stage 1 — Detect the content Infer the **language** and **framework** from the files in the project directory. Common signals: | Signal in project dir | Likely content | | --- | --- | | `app.py` | Python web app — Shiny for Python, Streamlit, Dash, Gradio, Panel, or Bokeh (disambiguate by imports, below) | | `app.R`, or `ui.R` + `server.R` | Shiny for R | | `plumber.R` / `entrypoint.R` containing `plumb()` | Plumber API (R) | | `*.qmd` | Quarto document | | `*.Rmd` | R Markdown | | `*.ipynb` | Jupyter notebook / Voila | | `manifest.json` | Prebuilt bundle (deploy directly, no framework guess needed) | **Disambiguate `app.py` by its imports:** ```console grep -Eo 'import (shiny|streamlit|dash|gradio|panel|bokeh)|from (shiny|streamlit|dash|gradio|panel|bokeh)' app.py ``` - `shiny` → shiny (Python) · `streamlit` → streamlit · `dash` → dash - `gradio` → gradio · `panel` → panel · `bokeh` → bokeh - A bare ASGI/WSGI object (`fastapi` / `flask`) → `fastapi` / `flask` **Dependency-file signals** confirm the language: - Python: `requirements.txt`, `pyproject.toml` - R: `DESCRIPTION`, `renv.lock`, or a spread of `.R` files **If the content is ambiguous** (e.g. both Python and R files, or an `app.py` with no recognizable import): if you have an ask-user / prompt tool available, ask the user which framework to deploy. Otherwise, **pick the strongest signal** (a framework-specific import beats a generic dep file) and **record the assumption** for your report. --- ## Stage 2 — Inventory your tools Probe the environment and build a capability set — don't assume anything is installed. ```console command -v rsconnect # rsconnect-python on PATH command -v uv # uv (installs and runs Python tools) uv tool list 2>/dev/null | grep rsconnect # rsconnect-python installed via uv command -v Rscript # R present Rscript -e 'cat(requireNamespace("rsconnect", quietly=TRUE))' 2>/dev/null # R rsconnect package command -v quarto # quarto CLI command -v git # git ``` Note which of these are present: `rsconnect` (or `uv`, which can run it without installing), `Rscript` + R `rsconnect`, `quarto`, `git`. With `uv` available you never need an install step for Python content — `uv tool run --from rsconnect-python rsconnect ...` fetches and runs it on demand. --- ## Stage 3 — Pick a route Cross the detected content (Stage 1) with your capabilities (Stage 2): ### Python content Use rsconnect-python. 1. **`rsconnect` already on `PATH`:** ```console rsconnect deploy ./my-app ``` 2. **Not on `PATH` but `uv` is** — run it without installing anything: ```console uv tool run --from rsconnect-python rsconnect deploy ./my-app ``` Both forms take identical arguments; the rest of this skill writes the bare `rsconnect ...` form, so prefix it with `uv tool run --from rsconnect-python` if you're on route 2. `` is one of `api`, `bokeh`, `bundle`, `dash`, `fastapi`, `flask`, `git`, `gradio`, `html`, `manifest`, `nodejs`, `notebook`, `panel`, `pyproject`, `quarto`, `shiny`, `streamlit`, `tensorflow`, `voila` (`rsconnect deploy other-content` prints guidance for anything not in that list). **The available frameworks and flags depend on the installed version**. Always confirm against `rsconnect deploy --help` rather than trusting this list. If `uv tool run` resolves a stale cached version, pin it: `uv tool run --from 'rsconnect-python==1.30.0' rsconnect ...`. ### R content Prefer the R `rsconnect` package targeting the Connect **server**, run through `Rscript -e '...'` or an R session. Which deploy function to use: - **Shiny for R / Plumber API / any app directory** → `deployApp()` - **A single R Markdown or Quarto document** → `deployDoc()` - **A full R Markdown / Quarto site** → `deploySite()` **If R is absent** (no `Rscript`): deploy the R content through rsconnect-python using a `manifest.json`. - If a `manifest.json` already exists, deploy it directly: ```console rsconnect deploy manifest ./manifest.json ``` - If there's no manifest and R *is* available elsewhere, generate one first with `rsconnect::writeManifest()` (see Stage 5). - If there's **neither R nor a manifest**, you cannot produce a valid R bundle. Surface this as a blocker: ask the user (if you have an ask-user tool) or report it clearly. Don't fake a deploy. ### Quarto content Use the rsconnect quarto route: ```console rsconnect deploy quarto ./report ``` Note: **R-flavored Quarto** (documents with R code chunks) needs R available to render. If the `.qmd` has R chunks and R is absent, treat it like R content (manifest route) or surface the gap. --- ## Stage 4 — Check credentials for that tool Now that you know which tool you're using, check whether it can already reach the server. **This is a check, not a login** — being authenticated already is the common case (env vars set by CI, an account linked in an earlier session). If a path is live, do nothing here: don't run a login, don't run `rsconnect add`. Start with the environment — it's the cheapest check, and it tells you what you have to work with either way: ```console env | grep -E '^CONNECT_(SERVER|API_KEY)=' | sed 's/=.*/=/' # don't print the key ``` **Python (rsconnect-python)** — reads `CONNECT_SERVER` / `CONNECT_API_KEY` directly, so finding both set *is* a live credential path. Saved servers and stored tokens (and which server is the default, 1.30.0+): ```console rsconnect list ``` **R (`rsconnect`)** — does **not** read `CONNECT_SERVER` / `CONNECT_API_KEY`. It authenticates only from a registered account, so those variables are a place for *you* to read the key from when you register one (Stage 5) — never a credential path on their own. What counts as live here: ```console Rscript -e 'print(rsconnect::accounts())' ``` If the tool itself isn't installed yet, the env-var check still tells you what you need; close the install gap in Stage 5, then run the tool-specific check. Record the verdict: either a credential path is live (continue to Stage 6 once any other gaps are closed) or there is none, which is a discrepancy for Stage 5. If both a saved server and `CONNECT_SERVER` are live for Python, see the [credentials reference](#credentials-reference) before choosing. --- ## Stage 5 — Resolve discrepancies (self-heal) When Stages 3 and 4 find a gap, close it and **record the action**: - **`rsconnect` not on `PATH`** → don't install anything if `uv` is present; just run it on demand: ```console uv tool run --from rsconnect-python rsconnect deploy ./my-app ``` If the user wants it installed persistently (or `uv tool run` isn't viable): ```console uv tool install rsconnect-python # or: pip install rsconnect-python ``` **Note the package/command mismatch:** the PyPI package is `rsconnect-python`, the command it provides is `rsconnect`. That's why `uv tool run` needs `--from rsconnect-python`. To update later: `uv tool upgrade rsconnect-python`. - **R `rsconnect` package missing** (but `Rscript` present) → install it from Posit Package Manager (P3M), which serves **precompiled Linux binaries** — far faster than a source build and with no `-dev` system libraries to apt-get. Two things are required to actually get binaries: the `__linux__/` repo URL **and** a platform-identifying `HTTPUserAgent` (without it P3M serves source): ```console export P3M="https://packagemanager.posit.co/cran/__linux__/$(. /etc/os-release && echo "$VERSION_CODENAME")/latest" Rscript -e ' options(HTTPUserAgent = sprintf("R/%s R (%s)", getRversion(), paste(getRversion(), R.version["platform"], R.version["arch"], R.version["os"]))) install.packages("rsconnect", repos = Sys.getenv("P3M")) ' ``` P3M binaries exist for **x86_64** on common distros; on **arm64** or an unsupported distro P3M transparently falls back to source (still correct, just slower — make sure the usual `-dev` libraries and a compiler are present). Only reach for `https://cloud.r-project.org` (CRAN source) if P3M is unreachable. - **`manifest.json` missing for R content** (R present) → generate it: ```console Rscript -e 'rsconnect::writeManifest()' ``` Alternatively, rsconnect-python can write one for Python content: ```console rsconnect write-manifest ./my-app ``` Then deploy the manifest via rsconnect-python if R can't deploy directly. - **No credentials** (Stage 4 found no env vars, no saved server, no linked account) → authenticate now, following [Credentials reference](#credentials-reference) for the ordering, the pitfalls, and what to do when nothing can supply them. Prefer a browser login (`rsconnect login`, `rsconnect::connectUser()`) when one is available. - **Dependencies** → you generally do **not** hand-list them. rsconnect and rsconnect-python scan the code and snapshot required package versions automatically (Python from `requirements.txt`/imports, R from your `.R` code). Make sure a Python `requirements.txt` exists when deploying Python content. For R, the content's own packages must be **installed locally** for rsconnect to detect and snapshot them (e.g. `plumber` for a Plumber API, `shiny` for a Shiny app) — install any that are missing from the same P3M repo shown above, not from CRAN source. --- ## Stage 6 — Deploy and handle failure ### Discover the live command surface (Python) rsconnect-python's frameworks and flags change between releases, so **read the help text — it's the source of truth**: ```console rsconnect version # which version you're actually running rsconnect deploy --help # every framework you can deploy rsconnect deploy --help # flags for one framework ``` ### Deploy For Python, `rsconnect deploy ` with the framework Stage 3 picked (`manifest` takes the manifest file rather than a directory). Non-obvious flags: `-t/--title`, `-N/--new` (force a new deployment instead of updating the recorded one), `-a/--app-id ` (target an existing item explicitly — mutually exclusive with `--new`), `-E NAME=VALUE` (set an environment variable, repeatable), `--draft` (keep serving the previous bundle until published). For R, call the function Stage 3 selected, passing `appTitle` so the content isn't named after the directory. ### If `rsconnect` isn't found at deploy time It may be installed but off `PATH` in this shell (common in IDE-spawned terminals or with a virtualenv active). Fall back to `uv tool run` as described in Stage 5 — remembering `--from rsconnect-python`, since the package and command names differ. ### Pre-flight check (optional) To confirm the target is reachable and the credentials work before deploying: ```console rsconnect details -n myserver # reachability + auth for one server ``` ### When a deploy fails **Python:** - Auth errors: confirm the target with `rsconnect list`, re-run `rsconnect login` (1.30.0+), or pass `-s`/`-k` (or set `CONNECT_SERVER`/`CONNECT_API_KEY`). - `-n/--name ... cannot be specified in conjunction with ... -s/--server (from ENVIRONMENT)`: `CONNECT_SERVER` is set and you also passed `-n`. `unset CONNECT_SERVER` and keep `-n` — see the credentials reference for why that direction and not the other. `CONNECT_API_KEY` can stay. - `The requirements file 'requirements.txt' does not exist`: Python content needs one. Create it, point at another file with `--requirements-file`, or generate it with `--force-generate` (a `pip freeze`, so it may over-pin). - Self-signed TLS: use `-i/--insecure` (or `-c/--cacert `); set `CONNECT_INSECURE` / `CONNECT_CA_CERTIFICATE` to apply it everywhere. - Rejected flag or unknown framework: re-check `rsconnect version` and re-read `rsconnect deploy --help` — this usually means the installed version is older than the flag you used. **R:** - "No account" / auth errors: run `rsconnect::accounts()`; if empty, re-run `rsconnect::addServer()` + `connectUser()`/`connectApiUser()`. Double-check you used a server function, not `connectCloudUser()` (Cloud). - `Found multiple accounts. Please disambiguate by setting server and/or account`: more than one account is linked. Pass `account =` (and `server =`) explicitly to the deploy call. In an interactive R session this appears as a menu instead, which will hang a headless run that somehow reaches it. - Wrong deploy function: use `deployApp()` for directories/apps, `deployDoc()` for a single document, `deploySite()` for a site. - Self-signed TLS: pass the CA bundle via the `RETICULATE`/`curl` options or add the server with the appropriate certificate; for quick tests set `options(rsconnect.check.certificate = FALSE)` (use sparingly). - Absolute-path warnings: files with hard-coded absolute paths won't block the deploy but should be made relative to the project directory. --- ## Credentials reference How to authenticate when Stage 4 found no credentials and Stage 5 sent you here. If a credential path is already live, you don't need any of this. ### Python (rsconnect-python) In order of preference: 1. **OAuth login (interactive).** Requires **rsconnect-python 1.30.0+** — check with `rsconnect version` first. One browser flow per server; tokens land in the OS keyring (falling back to a local credential store) and refresh automatically: ```console rsconnect login https://connect.example.com rsconnect login https://connect.example.com --use-device-code # headless ``` 2. **Saved API-key nickname.** Save once, select later with `-n/--name`: ```console rsconnect add -n myserver -s https://connect.example.com -k rsconnect list # confirm what's saved ``` On **1.30.0+** a server can be the **default**, used when a command passes neither `-n` nor `-s`. `add` sets it only with `--set-default`; `login` sets it unless you pass `--no-set-default`; `rsconnect server set-default -n ` changes it later. `CONNECT_SERVER` still takes precedence over the default. 3. **Env vars.** Best for headless/automated runs — no state to manage, and works on any version: ```console export CONNECT_SERVER=https://connect.example.com export CONNECT_API_KEY=... # honored across the whole `rsconnect` surface ``` 4. **Ad hoc flags** on the deploy command itself: `-s -k `. **Shared credential flags:** `-n/--name` (saved server), `-s/--server` (env `CONNECT_SERVER`), `-k/--api-key` (env `CONNECT_API_KEY`), `-i/--insecure` (env `CONNECT_INSECURE`, for self-signed TLS), `-c/--cacert ` (env `CONNECT_CA_CERTIFICATE`). > **`-n` and `CONNECT_SERVER` cannot both be in play.** rsconnect rejects a > command that combines a saved-server name (`-n/--name`) with a server URL, > including one that came from the environment: > `-n/--name (from COMMANDLINE) cannot be specified in conjunction with options > -s/--server (from ENVIRONMENT)`. > > **Only the *server* conflicts.** `CONNECT_API_KEY` (and `CONNECT_INSECURE`, > `CONNECT_CA_CERTIFICATE`) sit alongside `-n` without complaint — the key is > not part of the exclusion. So `-n dogfood` with `CONNECT_API_KEY` exported is > a valid command; it's `CONNECT_SERVER` that has to go. > > Choose by what the *request* names, not by what happens to be exported: > > - **The request names a specific saved server** (e.g. "deploy to dogfood") → > use `-n dogfood` and `unset CONNECT_SERVER` for that command. Do **not** > resolve the conflict the other way: `CONNECT_SERVER` may point somewhere > else entirely, and dropping `-n` to keep it would silently deploy to a > server the user didn't ask for. > - **The request names no server** (typical headless/automated run) → let > `CONNECT_SERVER`/`CONNECT_API_KEY` supply the target and deploy with just > `rsconnect deploy `. > > If you're unsure which server `CONNECT_SERVER` points at, print it — it isn't > secret — and say which one you deployed to in your report. ### R (`rsconnect`) Register the server under a local nickname, then register your user against it: ```r library(rsconnect) # 1. The server (once per server; the name is a local nickname) rsconnect::addServer(url = "https://connect.example.com", name = "myserver") # 2a. Interactive — approve in a browser, no key to handle rsconnect::connectUser(server = "myserver") # 2b. Or non-interactively (CI) — connectApiUser() requires an apiKey rsconnect::connectApiUser( server = "myserver", account = "your-username", apiKey = Sys.getenv("CONNECT_API_KEY") ) ``` > **Critical — this is Connect *server*, not Connect Cloud.** Use > `rsconnect::connectUser()` or `rsconnect::connectApiUser()`, **never** > `connectCloudUser()`. The Cloud functions authenticate against a different > service and will not work here. ### If no credentials can be found - `CONNECT_SERVER` / `CONNECT_API_KEY` are the last place to look — for Python because rsconnect reads them itself, for R because they're a source for the `apiKey` you pass to `connectApiUser()`. If they're absent too, **report the missing credentials** rather than guessing or asking the user to paste an API key into the context.