Vercel Inspect vs Vercel Recovery

What vercel inspect actually does

Running vercel inspect [deployment-id] returns deployment metadata: build logs, routes, environment summary, and status information. It does not expose the physical source file tree or let you download .tsx, package.json, or other project files.

What vercel pull actually does

vercel pull synchronizes project settings and environment variables to your local machine so you can build — not reconstruct lost source files from a deployment. If your laptop died, this command cannot bring back your app folder.

Dashboard “Source” tab limitations

The Vercel dashboard shows files one at a time. For a Next.js app with hundreds of files, manual copy-paste is error-prone and impractical. Browser devtools show compiled bundles, not your original TypeScript.

Restoring a deleted deployment ≠ recovering local code

Vercel's 30-day deployment restore brings the CDN deployment back online. It does not populate your local disk with a git repository or IDE-ready project structure.

How Vercel Recovery fills the gap

• Calls the Vercel files API for your deployment's full tree
• Fetches each file's content and decodes it from the API format
• Builds a ZIP with the original directory layout
• Runs in the browser — no npm install or CLI configuration

Compare approaches in our download guide or Free scan — sign in.