Maven controls a Mule application's build and deployment through the project's pom.xml. A newly generated Mule project contains the normal project metadata and Mule Maven Plugin definition, but Maven-based deployment requires the appropriate deployment configuration to be added or completed in that POM.
MuleSoft's CloudHub deployment documentation explicitly states that the CloudHub deployment strategy must be configured in the project's pom.xml. The Mule Maven Plugin configuration contains deployment-specific settings such as the Mule runtime version, application name, environment, region, worker configuration, authentication information or references, and application properties.
settings.xml can store Maven-level repository or server credentials, but it is normally part of the user's Maven configuration rather than a required file inside the Mule application project. mule-artifact.json describes Mule artifact/runtime metadata and exported resources/packages; it is not where the Mule Maven deployment strategy is defined. config.yaml is likewise not the Maven build descriptor.
Therefore, before using Maven to deploy the application, the deployment configuration must be established in the project's pom.xml.
Reference topics: Mule Maven Plugin; pom.xml; Maven deployment lifecycle; CloudHub deployment configuration; CI/CD.
Official documentation: https://docs.mulesoft.com/mule-runtime/4.4/deploy-to-cloudhub
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