Here Now

here.now

Skill version: 1.8.0

Create a live URL from any file or folder. Static hosting only.

To install or update (recommended): npx skills add heredotnow/skill --skill here-now -g

For repo-pinned/project-local installs, run the same command without -g.

If npm is unavailable, see fallback install docs: https://here.now/docs#install-skill

Requirements

• Required binaries: curl, file, jq
• Optional environment variable: $HERENOW_API_KEY
• Optional credentials file: ~/.herenow/credentials

Create a site

./scripts/publish.sh {file-or-dir}

Outputs the live URL (e.g. https://bright-canvas-a7k2.here.now/).

Under the hood this is a three-step flow: create/update -> upload files -> finalize. A site is not live until finalize succeeds.

Without an API key this creates an anonymous site that expires in 24 hours. With a saved API key, the site is permanent.

File structure: For HTML sites, place index.html at the root of the directory you publish, not inside a subdirectory. The directory's contents become the site root. For example, publish my-site/ where my-site/index.html exists — don't publish a parent folder that contains my-site/.

You can also publish raw files without any HTML. Single files get a rich auto-viewer (images, PDF, video, audio). Multiple files get an auto-generated directory listing with folder navigation and an image gallery.

Update an existing site

./scripts/publish.sh {file-or-dir} --slug {slug}

The script auto-loads the claimToken from .herenow/state.json when updating anonymous sites. Pass --claim-token {token} to override.

Authenticated updates require a saved API key.

Client attribution

Pass --client so here.now can track reliability by agent:

./scripts/publish.sh {file-or-dir} --client cursor

This sends X-HereNow-Client: cursor/publish-sh on publish API calls. If omitted, the script sends a fallback value.

API key storage

The publish script reads the API key from these sources (first match wins):

1. --api-key {key} flag (CI/scripting only — avoid in interactive use)
2. $HERENOW_API_KEY environment variable
3. ~/.herenow/credentials file (recommended for agents)

To store a key, write it to the credentials file:

mkdir -p ~/.herenow && echo "{API_KEY}" > ~/.herenow/credentials && chmod 600 ~/.herenow/credentials

IMPORTANT: After receiving an API key, save it immediately — run the command above yourself. Do not ask the user to run it manually. Avoid passing the key via CLI flags (e.g. --api-key) in interactive sessions; the credentials file is the preferred storage method.

Never commit credentials or local state files (~/.herenow/credentials, .herenow/state.json) to source control.

State file

After every site create/update, the script writes to .herenow/state.json in the working directory:

{
  "publishes": {
    "bright-canvas-a7k2": {
      "siteUrl": "https://bright-canvas-a7k2.here.now/",
      "claimToken": "abc123",
      "claimUrl": "https://here.now/claim?slug=bright-canvas-a7k2&token=abc123",
      "expiresAt": "2026-02-18T01:00:00.000Z"
    }
  }
}

Before creating or updating sites, you may check this file to find prior slugs. Treat .herenow/state.json as internal cache only. Never present this local file path as a URL, and never use it as source of truth for auth mode, expiry, or claim URL.

What to tell the user

• Always share the siteUrl from the current script run.
• Read and follow publish_result.* lines from script stderr to determine auth mode.
• When publish_result.auth_mode=authenticated: tell the user the site is permanent and saved to their account. No claim URL is needed.
• When publish_result.auth_mode=anonymous: tell the user the site expires in 24 hours. Share the claim URL (if publish_result.claim_url is non-empty and starts with https://) so they can keep it permanently. Warn that claim tokens are only returned once and cannot be recovered.
• Never tell the user to inspect .herenow/state.json for claim URLs or auth status.

Limits

Getting an API key

To upgrade from anonymous (24h) to permanent sites:

1. Ask the user for their email address.
2. Request a one-time sign-in code:

curl -sS https://here.now/api/auth/agent/request-code \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email": "user@example.com"}'

3. Tell the user: "Check your inbox for a sign-in code from here.now and paste it here."
4. Verify the code and get the API key:

curl -sS https://here.now/api/auth/agent/verify-code \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email":"user@example.com","code":"ABCD-2345"}'

5. Save the returned apiKey yourself (do not ask the user to do this):

mkdir -p ~/.herenow && echo "{API_KEY}" > ~/.herenow/credentials && chmod 600 ~/.herenow/credentials

Script options

Duplicate a site

curl -sS -X POST https://here.now/api/v1/publish/{slug}/duplicate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer {API_KEY}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{}'

Creates a full copy of the site under a new slug. All files are copied server-side — no upload needed. The new site is immediately live. Requires authentication and ownership of the source site.

Optionally override viewer metadata (shallow-merged with the source):

curl -sS -X POST https://here.now/api/v1/publish/{slug}/duplicate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer {API_KEY}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"viewer": {"title": "My Copy"}}'

Beyond the script

For delete, metadata patch (including password protection), duplicate, claim, list, and other operations, see references/REFERENCE.md.

Handle and links quick reference

• Handles are user-owned subdomain namespaces on here.now (for example, yourname.here.now) that route paths to your sites.
• Any account with an API key can claim a handle.
• Handle endpoints: /api/v1/handle
• Link endpoints: /api/v1/links and /api/v1/links/:location
• Root location sentinel for path params remains __root__
• Handle/link changes can take up to 60 seconds to propagate globally (Cloudflare KV)

Custom domains

Bring your own domain (e.g. example.com) and serve sites from it. Requires a paid plan (Hobby or above).

Add a custom domain

curl -sS https://here.now/api/v1/domains \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer {API_KEY}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"domain": "example.com"}'

Response includes DNS instructions. Point an ALIAS record (or CNAME for subdomains) to fallback.here.now. SSL is provisioned automatically.

Check domain status

curl -sS https://here.now/api/v1/domains/example.com \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer {API_KEY}"

Status is pending until DNS is verified and SSL is active, then becomes active.

Link a site to a custom domain

Use the domain parameter when creating a link:

curl -sS https://here.now/api/v1/links \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer {API_KEY}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"location": "", "slug": "bright-canvas-a7k2", "domain": "example.com"}'

An empty location makes it the homepage (https://example.com/). Use "location": "docs" for https://example.com/docs/.

List custom domains

curl -sS https://here.now/api/v1/domains \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer {API_KEY}"

Remove a custom domain

curl -sS -X DELETE https://here.now/api/v1/domains/example.com \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer {API_KEY}"

Removes the domain and all links under it.

Key points

• Custom domains: 1 on Free, up to 5 on Hobby
• Most domains use an ALIAS record (sometimes called ANAME or CNAME flattening)
• Subdomains (e.g. docs.example.com) can also use a standard CNAME record
• Domain endpoints: /api/v1/domains and /api/v1/domains/:domain
• Links to custom domains use the same /api/v1/links endpoint with an added domain parameter
• Changes propagate globally in up to 60 seconds (Cloudflare KV)

Full docs: https://here.now/docs