Subject: Connect GitHub to an existing Vercel project without creating an initial Production deployment

I have an existing Vercel Hobby project with a protected Preview deployment and a previous static Production bootstrap.

I want to connect an existing private GitHub repository to this project without creating any new Production or Preview deployment during the connection process.

The repository's default branch is main, and its current vercel.json contains:

1{2  "git": {3    "deploymentEnabled": false4  }5}

Some older repository branches do not contain this configuration.

Could you confirm:

1. Does connecting GitHub under Project Settings → Git immediately create any deployment?
2. Is there a supported link-only procedure guaranteed not to create a Production deployment?
3. Can all automatic deployments be disabled at the project level before connecting GitHub, including for older branches?
4. After connecting, can I manually deploy an exact commit SHA to Preview only, while keeping automatic Git deployments disabled?

I need to preserve the existing deployments, aliases, environment variables, and Vercel Authentication settings.

Please identify the supported procedure and any limitations on the Hobby plan.