Hi Vercel Team,

I'm using the Hobby plan and setting up a Next.js project for private testing.

Project details:

Team: touchline14

Project: touchline

Vercel CLI: 65.12.1

Framework: Next.js

Deployment Protection: Vercel Authentication enabled with Standard Protection

I ran vercel deploy --scope touchline14 without the --prod flag, expecting a Preview deployment. However, because it was the project's first deployment, Vercel automatically assigned it to Production.

I deleted that deployment to avoid exposing the website publicly. There are currently no deployments remaining.

My goal is to test the website privately using Preview environment variables and Vercel Authentication, without making a Production deployment publicly accessible.

Could you please clarify:

Is there an officially supported way to create the very first deployment directly in Preview, without an initial Production deployment?

Would --environment=preview bypass this first-deployment behavior, or would it still be assigned to Production?

Is there a safe workaround available on the Hobby plan that avoids exposing the application publicly?

If an initial Production deployment is mandatory, what is the recommended way to prevent public access during setup?

I'd appreciate any guidance on the safest approach.

Thank you!