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This GCloud Tutorial has a "Deploying the function", such as

gcloud functions deploy ocr-extract --trigger-bucket YOUR_IMAGE_BUCKET_NAME --entry-point 

But at Quickstart: Using Client Libraries does not mention it at all, all it needs is

npm install --save @google-cloud/storage

then a few lines of code will work.

So I'm confused, do I need the "deploy" in order to have OCR, in other words what do/don't I get from "deploy"?

The command

npm install --save @google-cloud/storage

is an example of installing the Google Cloud Client Library for Node.js in your development environment, in this case, Cloud Storage API. This example is part of Setting Up a Node.js Development Environment tutorial.

Once you have coded, tested and set all the configurations for the app as described in the tutorial the next step would be the deployment, in this example a Cloud Function:

gcloud functions deploy ocr-extract --trigger-bucket YOUR_IMAGE_BUCKET_NAME --entry-point 

So, note that this commands are two different steps to run OCR with Cloud Functions, Cloud Storage and other Cloud Platform components in the tutorial example using Node.js environment.

While Cloud Function (CF) is easy to understand, this answers specifically my own question, what does the "Deploy" actually do:

1. to have the code work for you, they must be deployed/uploaded to the GC. For people like me never done GCF this is new. My understanding was all I need to supply is credentials and satisfy the whatever server/backend (sorry, cloud) settings when my local app calls the remote Web API. That's where I stucked. The key I missed is the sample app itself is a server/backend, and therefore Google requires them to be "deployed" just like when we deploy something during a staging or production release in a traditional corporate environment. So it's a real deploy. If you still don't get it, go to your GC admin page, menu, Cloud Function, "Overview" tab, you will see them. Hence goes to next


2. The 3 GC deploy command used in the Deploying Functions have ocr-extract ocr-save ocr-translate, they are not switches, they are function names that you can name them anything. Now, still in the Admin page, click on any of 3, "Source". Bang, they are there, deployed (uploaded).

Google, as this is a tutorial no one has digged into command reference book yet, I recommend adding a piece of note telling readers those 3 ocr-* can be anything you want to name.