diff --git a/bin/backup-mastodon-data.sh b/bin/backup-mastodon-data.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..525b889e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/backup-mastodon-data.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -x
+set -e
+
+PGPASSWORD=pinafore pg_dump -U pinafore -w pinafore_development > fixtures/dump.sql
+cd mastodon/public/system
+tar -czf ../../../fixtures/system.tgz .
diff --git a/bin/deploy-all-travis.sh b/bin/deploy-all-travis.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..d5b1f8d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/deploy-all-travis.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -e
+set -x
+
+if [ "$TRAVIS_BRANCH" = master -a "$TRAVIS_PULL_REQUEST" = false ]; then
+  npm run deploy-dev
+fi
diff --git a/bin/deploy.sh b/bin/deploy.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..11b1fb4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/deploy.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -e
+set -x
+
+PATH="$PATH:./node_modules/.bin"
+
+# set up robots.txt
+if [[ "$DEPLOY_TYPE" == "prod" ]]; then
+  printf 'User-agent: *\nDisallow: /' > assets/robots.txt
+else
+  rm -f assets/robots.txt
+fi
+
+# if in travis, use the $NOW_TOKEN
+NOW_COMMAND="now --team nolanlawson"
+if [[ ! -z "$NOW_TOKEN" ]]; then
+  NOW_COMMAND="$NOW_COMMAND --token $NOW_TOKEN"
+fi
+
+#launch
+$NOW_COMMAND -e SAPPER_TIMESTAMP=$(date +%s%3N)
+
+# fixes issues with now being unavailable immediately
+sleep 60
+
+# choose the right alias
+NOW_ALIAS="dev.pinafore.social"
+
+if [[ "$DEPLOY_TYPE" == "prod" ]]; then
+  NOW_ALIAS="pinafore.social"
+fi
+
+# alias
+$NOW_COMMAND alias "$NOW_ALIAS"
+
+# cleanup
+$NOW_COMMAND rm pinafore --safe --yes
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index df895b62..10bb3105 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -33,22 +33,10 @@
     "wait-for-mastodon-data": "node -r esm bin/wait-for-mastodon-data.js",
     "globalize-css": "node ./bin/globalize-css.js",
     "deglobalize-css": "node ./bin/globalize-css.js --reverse",
-    "stage-dev": "printf 'User-agent: *\nDisallow: /' > assets/robots.txt",
-    "stage-prod": "rm -f assets/robots.txt",
-    "launch": "now -e SAPPER_TIMESTAMP=$(date +%s%3N) --team nolanlawson && sleep 60",
-    "launch-travis": "now -e SAPPER_TIMESTAMP=$(date +%s%3N) --team nolanlawson --token $NOW_TOKEN && sleep 60",
-    "alias-prod": "now alias pinafore.social --team nolanlawson",
-    "alias-prod-travis": "now alias pinafore.social --team nolanlawson --token $NOW_TOKEN",
-    "alias-dev": "now alias dev.pinafore.social --team nolanlawson",
-    "alias-dev-travis": "now alias dev.pinafore.social --team nolanlawson --token $NOW_TOKEN",
-    "cleanup": "now rm pinafore --safe --yes --team nolanlawson",
-    "cleanup-travis": "now rm pinafore --safe --yes --team nolanlawson --token $NOW_TOKEN",
-    "deploy-prod": "run-s stage-prod launch alias-prod cleanup",
-    "deploy-dev": "run-s stage-dev launch alias-dev cleanup",
-    "deploy-dev-travis": "run-s stage-dev launch-travis alias-dev-travis cleanup-travis; fi",
-    "deploy-prod-travis": "if echo $TRAVIS_COMMIT_MESSAGE | grep -q -E '\\d+\\.\\d+\\.\\d+'; then run-s stage-prod launch-travis alias-prod-travis cleanup-travis; fi",
-    "deploy-all-travis": "if [ $TRAVIS_BRANCH = master -a $TRAVIS_PULL_REQUEST = false ]; then run-s deploy-dev-travis deploy-prod-travis; fi",
-    "backup-mastodon-data": "PGPASSWORD=pinafore pg_dump -U pinafore -w pinafore_development > fixtures/dump.sql && cd mastodon/public/system && tar -czf ../../../fixtures/system.tgz ."
+    "deploy-prod": "DEPLOY_TYPE=prod ./bin/deploy.sh",
+    "deploy-dev": "DEPLOY_TYPE=dev ./bin/deploy.sh",
+    "deploy-all-travis": "./bin/deploy-all-travis.sh",
+    "backup-mastodon-data": "./bin/backup-mastodon-data.sh"
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "@gamestdio/websocket": "^0.2.8",
diff --git a/routes/_api/utils.js b/routes/_api/utils.js
index 73b1a4bd..654f5180 100644
--- a/routes/_api/utils.js
+++ b/routes/_api/utils.js
@@ -1,13 +1,9 @@
-const isLocalhost = !process.browser ||
-  location.hostname === 'localhost' ||
-  location.hostname === '127.0.0.1'
-
 function targetIsLocalhost (instanceName) {
   return instanceName.startsWith('localhost:') || instanceName.startsWith('127.0.0.1:')
 }
 
 export function basename (instanceName) {
-  if (isLocalhost && targetIsLocalhost(instanceName)) {
+  if (targetIsLocalhost(instanceName)) {
     return `http://${instanceName}`
   }
   return `https://${instanceName}`