diff --git a/.changeset/small-lobsters-arrive.md b/.changeset/small-lobsters-arrive.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c95bd3c555d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/small-lobsters-arrive.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"thirdweb": patch
+---
+
+thirdweb deploy redirects to contract deploy page if no contracts detected
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/common/feature-detector.ts b/packages/cli/src/common/feature-detector.ts
index 8ddc1496c90..ebe27132552 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/common/feature-detector.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/common/feature-detector.ts
@@ -117,10 +117,12 @@ export async function detectExtensions(options: any) {
     });
 
     let deployCmd = `npx thirdweb@latest deploy`;
-    if (existsSync("package.json")) {
+    if (existsSync(projectPath + "/package.json")) {
       const packageManager = getPkgManager();
       const useYarn = packageManager === "yarn";
-      const pkgJson = JSON.parse(readFileSync("package.json", "utf-8"));
+      const pkgJson = JSON.parse(
+        readFileSync(projectPath + "/package.json", "utf-8"),
+      );
       if (pkgJson?.scripts?.deploy === deployCmd) {
         deployCmd = `${packageManager}${useYarn ? "" : " run"} deploy`;
       }
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/common/processor.ts b/packages/cli/src/common/processor.ts
index 776b82233f6..de34e38f0bc 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/common/processor.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/common/processor.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import { ContractPayload } from "../core/interfaces/ContractPayload";
 import { ThirdwebStorage } from "@thirdweb-dev/storage";
 import chalk from "chalk";
 import { readFileSync } from "fs";
+import ora from "ora";
 import path from "path";
 
 export async function processProject(
@@ -35,6 +36,27 @@ export async function processProject(
 
   const projectType = await detect(projectPath, options);
 
+  if (projectType === "none") {
+    if (command === "deploy") {
+      info(
+        "No contracts detected in this directory. Redirecting to the thirdweb contract deployment page.",
+      );
+      return "https://thirdweb.com/contracts";
+    }
+
+    error("No detected contracts in this directory.");
+    logger.info(``);
+    ora(
+      `Detected contract files must end with the '.sol' extension and exist in this directory or the '/contracts' subdirectory`,
+    ).info();
+    logger.info(``);
+    ora("To create a new contracts project, run the following command:").info();
+    logger.info(``);
+    logger.info(`     ${chalk.cyan(`npx thirdweb@latest create --contract`)}`);
+    logger.info(``);
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+
   if (options.ci) {
     logger.info("Installing dependencies...");
     try {
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/core/detection/detect.ts b/packages/cli/src/core/detection/detect.ts
index 290a8dbe7de..d7901c41aaf 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/core/detection/detect.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/core/detection/detect.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,9 @@ import { Detector } from "./detector";
 import FoundryDetector from "./foundry";
 import HardhatDetector from "./hardhat";
 import TruffleDetector from "./truffle";
+import fs, { exists, existsSync } from "fs";
 import inquirer from "inquirer";
+import { parse } from "path";
 
 const { Confirm } = require("enquirer");
 
@@ -26,18 +28,24 @@ export default async function detect(
 
   //if there is no project returned at all then just return unknown}
   if (!possibleProjectTypes.length) {
-    warn(`${ERROR_MESSAGES.noConfiguration} ${path}`);
-    const prompt = new Confirm({
-      name: "continue",
-      message:
-        "Do you want to continue and compile this project with solc instead?",
-    });
-    const shouldCompile = await prompt.run();
-    if (!shouldCompile) {
-      logger.warn("Aborted contract compilation");
-      process.exit(1);
+    const canCompile = hasContracts(path);
+
+    if (canCompile) {
+      warn(`${ERROR_MESSAGES.noConfiguration} ${path}`);
+      const prompt = new Confirm({
+        name: "continue",
+        message:
+          "Do you want to continue and compile this project with solc instead?",
+      });
+      const shouldCompile = await prompt.run();
+      if (!shouldCompile) {
+        logger.warn("Aborted contract compilation");
+        process.exit(1);
+      }
+      return "solc";
+    } else {
+      return "none";
     }
-    return "unknown";
   }
   //if there is only one possible option just return it
   if (possibleProjectTypes.length === 1) {
@@ -64,3 +72,24 @@ export default async function detect(
     return answer[question];
   }
 }
+
+// Check if a directory has any .sol files or a /contracts folder with .sol files
+function hasContracts(path: any) {
+  return (
+    ["", "/contracts"].filter((p) => {
+      const dirPath = path + p;
+
+      if (!existsSync(dirPath)) {
+        return false;
+      }
+
+      const files = fs.readdirSync(dirPath);
+      const contracts = files.filter((filePath) => {
+        const { ext } = parse(filePath);
+        return ext === ".sol";
+      });
+
+      return contracts.length > 0;
+    }).length > 0
+  );
+}
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/core/types/ProjectType.ts b/packages/cli/src/core/types/ProjectType.ts
index e06a85f9c42..d187ea9aeac 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/core/types/ProjectType.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/core/types/ProjectType.ts
@@ -3,4 +3,5 @@ export type ProjectType =
   | "foundry"
   | "hardhat"
   | "truffle"
-  | "unknown";
+  | "solc"
+  | "none";