diff --git a/app/lib/download/readmeContent.ts b/app/lib/download/readmeContent.ts
index 83266b9fb..42fb5f878 100644
--- a/app/lib/download/readmeContent.ts
+++ b/app/lib/download/readmeContent.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,30 @@ Check out the [Convex docs](https://docs.convex.dev/) for more information on ho
 * Check out the [Hosting and Deployment](https://docs.convex.dev/production/) docs for how to deploy your app
 * Read the [Best Practices](https://docs.convex.dev/understanding/best-practices/) guide for tips on how to improve you app further
 
+## Deploying via the CLI (recommended)
+
+You can rebuild and redeploy your Chef-hosted site from your machine. \`.env.local\` in this zip already contains both \`CONVEX_DEPLOYMENT\` and \`CONVEX_DEPLOY_KEY\`, so no extra setup is needed:
+
+\`\`\`bash
+npm install
+npm run chef-deploy
+\`\`\`
+
+This runs \`npm run build\`, zips the \`dist/\` directory, and uploads it to your existing ${convexDeploymentName ? `\`${convexDeploymentName}.convex.app\`` : '`*.convex.app`'} site.
+
+If you need to pass flags, invoke the CLI directly:
+
+\`\`\`bash
+npx --yes @convex-dev/chef-deploy --help
+\`\`\`
+
+Useful flags:
+
+- \`--build-command "pnpm build"\` if you prefer pnpm
+- \`--build-dir build\` if your framework writes somewhere other than \`dist/\`
+- \`--skip-build\` to upload an already-built \`dist/\` as-is
+- \`--chef-url https://...\` to target a non-default Chef host
+
 ## HTTP API
 
 User-defined http routes are defined in the \`convex/router.ts\` file. We split these routes into a separate file from \`convex/http.ts\` to allow us to prevent the LLM from modifying the authentication routes.
diff --git a/app/lib/stores/workbench.client.ts b/app/lib/stores/workbench.client.ts
index a66d08071..7f7b2e6cb 100644
--- a/app/lib/stores/workbench.client.ts
+++ b/app/lib/stores/workbench.client.ts
@@ -31,6 +31,33 @@ import type { ConvexToolName } from '~/lib/common/types';
 
 const { saveAs } = fileSaver;
 
+const DEPLOY_SCRIPT_NAME = 'chef-deploy';
+const DEPLOY_SCRIPT_COMMAND = 'npx --yes @convex-dev/chef-deploy';
+
+async function injectDeployScript(zip: JSZip) {
+  const entry = zip.file('package.json');
+  if (!entry) {
+    return;
+  }
+  let raw: string;
+  try {
+    raw = await entry.async('string');
+  } catch {
+    return;
+  }
+  let pkg: any;
+  try {
+    pkg = JSON.parse(raw);
+  } catch {
+    return;
+  }
+  pkg.scripts = pkg.scripts ?? {};
+  if (!pkg.scripts[DEPLOY_SCRIPT_NAME]) {
+    pkg.scripts[DEPLOY_SCRIPT_NAME] = DEPLOY_SCRIPT_COMMAND;
+    zip.file('package.json', JSON.stringify(pkg, null, 2) + '\n');
+  }
+}
+
 export interface ArtifactState {
   id: string;
   title: string;
@@ -602,6 +629,7 @@ export class WorkbenchStore {
     if (!hasCursorRules) {
       zip.file('.cursor/rules/convex_rules.mdc', cursorRulesContent);
     }
+    await injectDeployScript(zip);
     // Generate the zip file and save it
     const content = await zip.generateAsync({ type: 'blob' });
     saveAs(content, `${projectName}.zip`);
diff --git a/chef-deploy/cli.js b/chef-deploy/cli.js
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..e33d7cf0e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/chef-deploy/cli.js
@@ -0,0 +1,162 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+
+import { existsSync, readFileSync, statSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { readdir, readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { join, relative, resolve } from 'node:path';
+import { spawnSync } from 'node:child_process';
+import { Command } from 'commander';
+import dotenv from 'dotenv';
+import JSZip from 'jszip';
+
+const DEFAULT_CHEF_URL = 'https://chef.convex.dev';
+const DEFAULT_BUILD_DIR = 'dist';
+
+function parseEnvLocal(projectDir) {
+  const envLocalPath = join(projectDir, '.env.local');
+  if (!existsSync(envLocalPath)) {
+    return {};
+  }
+  return dotenv.parse(readFileSync(envLocalPath));
+}
+
+function extractDeploymentName(raw) {
+  // `.env.local` stores `CONVEX_DEPLOYMENT=dev:funky-otter-123 # team: ... project: ...`
+  const stripped = raw.split('#')[0].trim();
+  return stripped.includes(':') ? stripped.split(':').pop().trim() : stripped;
+}
+
+function runCommand(command, cwd) {
+  const [bin, ...args] = command.split(' ');
+  const result = spawnSync(bin, args, { cwd, stdio: 'inherit', shell: process.platform === 'win32' });
+  if (result.status !== 0) {
+    throw new Error(`Command failed (${command}) with exit code ${result.status}`);
+  }
+}
+
+async function addDirectoryToZip(zip, dir, base) {
+  const entries = await readdir(dir, { withFileTypes: true });
+  for (const entry of entries) {
+    const absPath = join(dir, entry.name);
+    if (entry.isDirectory()) {
+      await addDirectoryToZip(zip, absPath, base);
+    } else if (entry.isFile()) {
+      const relPath = relative(base, absPath);
+      zip.file(relPath, await readFile(absPath));
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+async function buildZip(buildPath) {
+  const zip = new JSZip();
+  await addDirectoryToZip(zip, buildPath, buildPath);
+  return zip.generateAsync({ type: 'nodebuffer' });
+}
+
+async function uploadBundle({ chefUrl, token, deploymentName, zipBuffer }) {
+  const form = new FormData();
+  form.append('file', new Blob([zipBuffer]), 'dist.zip');
+  form.append('deploymentName', deploymentName);
+  form.append('token', token);
+
+  const url = `${chefUrl.replace(/\/+$/, '')}/api/deploy-simple`;
+  const response = await fetch(url, { method: 'POST', body: form });
+  const text = await response.text();
+  if (!response.ok) {
+    throw new Error(`Upload failed (${response.status} ${response.statusText}): ${text}`);
+  }
+  try {
+    return JSON.parse(text);
+  } catch {
+    return { raw: text };
+  }
+}
+
+async function run(opts) {
+  const projectDir = resolve(opts.projectDir);
+  if (!existsSync(projectDir)) {
+    throw new Error(`Project directory does not exist: ${projectDir}`);
+  }
+
+  const env = parseEnvLocal(projectDir);
+  const token = opts.token ?? process.env.CONVEX_DEPLOY_KEY ?? env.CONVEX_DEPLOY_KEY;
+  const rawDeployment = opts.deployment ?? process.env.CONVEX_DEPLOYMENT ?? env.CONVEX_DEPLOYMENT;
+
+  if (!token) {
+    throw new Error(
+      'Missing CONVEX_DEPLOY_KEY. Set it in .env.local, the CONVEX_DEPLOY_KEY env var, or pass --token.',
+    );
+  }
+  if (!rawDeployment) {
+    throw new Error(
+      'Missing CONVEX_DEPLOYMENT. Set it in .env.local, the CONVEX_DEPLOYMENT env var, or pass --deployment.',
+    );
+  }
+
+  const deploymentName = extractDeploymentName(rawDeployment);
+  console.log(`→ Project:    ${projectDir}`);
+  console.log(`→ Deployment: ${deploymentName}`);
+  console.log(`→ Chef host:  ${opts.chefUrl}`);
+
+  if (!opts.skipInstall) {
+    if (!existsSync(join(projectDir, 'node_modules'))) {
+      console.log('\n→ Installing dependencies (npm install)...');
+      runCommand('npm install --no-fund --no-audit', projectDir);
+    } else {
+      console.log('→ node_modules exists, skipping install');
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (!opts.skipBuild) {
+    console.log(`\n→ Building (${opts.buildCommand})...`);
+    runCommand(opts.buildCommand, projectDir);
+  }
+
+  const buildPath = join(projectDir, opts.buildDir);
+  if (!existsSync(buildPath) || !statSync(buildPath).isDirectory()) {
+    throw new Error(
+      `Build output directory not found: ${buildPath}. Pass --build-dir if your build writes elsewhere.`,
+    );
+  }
+
+  console.log(`\n→ Zipping ${opts.buildDir}/...`);
+  const zipBuffer = await buildZip(buildPath);
+  console.log(`  ${(zipBuffer.length / 1024).toFixed(1)} KiB`);
+
+  console.log('\n→ Uploading to Chef...');
+  const result = await uploadBundle({
+    chefUrl: opts.chefUrl,
+    token,
+    deploymentName,
+    zipBuffer,
+  });
+
+  console.log('\n✓ Deployed');
+  console.log(`  https://${deploymentName}.convex.app`);
+  if (result && typeof result === 'object' && 'localDevWarning' in result) {
+    console.log(`  Warning: ${result.localDevWarning}`);
+  }
+}
+
+const program = new Command()
+  .name('chef-deploy')
+  .description('Build and deploy a Chef project to its *.convex.app host.')
+  .option('-p, --project-dir <path>', 'Path to the Chef project', process.cwd())
+  .option('-t, --token <token>', 'Convex deploy key (otherwise read from .env.local / CONVEX_DEPLOY_KEY)')
+  .option('-d, --deployment <name>', 'Convex deployment name (otherwise read from .env.local / CONVEX_DEPLOYMENT)')
+  .option('--build-command <cmd>', 'Command used to build the site', 'npm run build')
+  .option('--build-dir <dir>', 'Directory containing the built site', DEFAULT_BUILD_DIR)
+  .option('--chef-url <url>', 'Chef host', DEFAULT_CHEF_URL)
+  .option('--skip-build', 'Skip the build step and upload --build-dir as-is', false)
+  .option('--skip-install', 'Skip installing dependencies', false);
+
+program.parseAsync(process.argv).then(
+  () =>
+    run(program.opts()).catch((err) => {
+      console.error(`\n✗ ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`);
+      process.exit(1);
+    }),
+  (err) => {
+    console.error(`\n✗ ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`);
+    process.exit(1);
+  },
+);
diff --git a/chef-deploy/package.json b/chef-deploy/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a0e35c66a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/chef-deploy/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+{
+  "name": "@convex-dev/chef-deploy",
+  "version": "0.1.0-alpha.0",
+  "description": "Build and deploy a Chef project from the command line to its *.convex.app host.",
+  "type": "module",
+  "bin": {
+    "chef-deploy": "./cli.js"
+  },
+  "files": [
+    "cli.js"
+  ],
+  "engines": {
+    "node": ">=18"
+  },
+  "scripts": {
+    "deploy": "node cli.js"
+  },
+  "dependencies": {
+    "commander": "^13.1.0",
+    "dotenv": "^16.4.5",
+    "jszip": "^3.10.1"
+  },
+  "packageManager": "pnpm@9.5.0"
+}
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index 8f4391738..14d68cea8 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -519,6 +519,18 @@ importers:
         specifier: ^2.1.9
         version: 2.1.9(@edge-runtime/vm@5.0.0)(@types/node@20.17.30)(jsdom@26.0.0)(sass-embedded@1.83.4)(sugarss@4.0.1(postcss@8.5.3))
 
+  chef-deploy:
+    dependencies:
+      commander:
+        specifier: ^13.1.0
+        version: 13.1.0
+      dotenv:
+        specifier: ^16.4.5
+        version: 16.4.7
+      jszip:
+        specifier: ^3.10.1
+        version: 3.10.1
+
   chefshot:
     dependencies:
       '@playwright/test':
diff --git a/pnpm-workspace.yaml b/pnpm-workspace.yaml
index f589b9fa3..0119e9a35 100644
--- a/pnpm-workspace.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-workspace.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 packages:
   - 'chefshot'
+  - 'chef-deploy'
   - 'test-kitchen'
   - 'chef-agent'
   # You can add more workspace packages here later if needed
diff --git a/template/package.json b/template/package.json
index b3061d20d..8add5d771 100644
--- a/template/package.json
+++ b/template/package.json
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
     "dev:frontend": "vite --open",
     "dev:backend": "convex dev",
     "build": "vite build",
+    "chef-deploy": "npx --yes @convex-dev/chef-deploy",
     "lint": "tsc -p convex -noEmit --pretty false && tsc -p . -noEmit --pretty false && convex dev --once && vite build"
   },
   "dependencies": {