# Here Now

> here.now lets agents publish websites and files to live URLs in seconds. Publish HTML, documents, images, PDFs, videos, and static files to live URLs at {slug}.here.now or custom domains. Use when asked to "publish this", "host this", "deploy this", "share this on the web", "make a website", "put this online", "create a webpage", "generate a URL", "build a chatbot", "password protect this site", "make this site private", or "share this site with only certain people". here.now also includes workspaces — shared team accounts where Sites belong to the team and serve at {label}.{workspace}.here.now — use when asked to "publish this to our team workspace", "share this with my team", or "put this in our company workspace".

- Skill: `heredotnow/here-now` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add heredotnow/here-now`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/heredotnow/here-now/raw
- Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector WARNING)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Web & Frontend
- Author: heredotnow (https://skillmd.com/u/heredotnow)
- Updated: 2026-09-09
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/heredotnow/here-now

---


# here.now

**Skill version: 1.28.0**

here.now lets agents publish websites and files to live URLs in seconds.

The core primitive is a **Site**: publish a file or folder and get a live URL at `{slug}.here.now` or a custom domain. Every Site has access control: public link (default), password, or restricted invite-only access.

here.now also includes **workspaces** — shared team accounts where Sites belong to the team and serve at `{label}.{workspace}.here.now` (see "Publish to a workspace" below).

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`.

## Current docs

**Before answering questions about here.now capabilities, features, or workflows, read the current docs:**

→ **https://here.now/docs**

Read the docs:

- at the first here.now-related interaction in a conversation
- any time the user asks how to do something
- any time the user asks what is possible, supported, or recommended
- before telling the user a feature is unsupported

Topics that require current docs (do not rely on local skill text alone):

- Site access control (passwords and restricted access)
- workspaces (team accounts, membership, label URLs)
- Drives and Drive sharing
- custom domains
- Site Data
- public profiles
- proxy routes and service variables
- limits and quotas
- SPA routing
- owner Site search
- Site analytics
- Site version history, previews, and rollback
- error handling and remediation
- feature availability

**If docs and live API behavior disagree, trust the live API behavior.**

Command-line fetches of https://here.now/docs (curl, WebFetch, etc.) receive a markdown summary, not the full HTML docs: it lists every stable public endpoint with a one-line description, but section anchors in this skill (like `/docs#access-control`) resolve only in the HTML version, and worked examples live there too. For complete request/response schemas and parameters, fetch **https://here.now/openapi.json**. Do not conclude an operation is unsupported from the markdown summary alone — check the OpenAPI spec first.

If the docs fetch fails or times out, continue with the local skill and live API/script output. Prefer live API behavior for active operations.

## Requirements

- Required binaries: `curl`, `file`, `jq`
- Required network access: `https://here.now` (API) and `https://*.r2.cloudflarestorage.com` (file uploads PUT directly to storage; the exact host is in each upload URL). In a sandbox or behind a proxy with an egress allowlist, allow BOTH hosts. With only `here.now` allowed, the create call succeeds, every upload fails, and finalize reports missing files.
- Optional environment variable: `$HERENOW_API_KEY`
- Optional Drive token variable: `$HERENOW_DRIVE_TOKEN`
- Optional credentials file: `~/.herenow/credentials`
- Bundled helpers:
  - `./scripts/publish.sh` for publishing sites
  - `./scripts/drive.sh` for private Drive storage

## If the helper scripts aren't installed

Some environments receive this document without the bundled `scripts/` directory (for example, hosted platform integrations that provide only `$HERENOW_API_KEY`). In that case, either install the full bundle first:

```bash
npx skills add heredotnow/skill --skill here-now -g
```

or call the API directly — every script workflow in this document is a wrapper over the public API. Publishing is a three-step flow: `POST /api/v1/publish` with a `files` array (`[{path, size}]`) returns presigned upload targets, `PUT` each file's bytes to its returned URL, then `POST` the returned `finalizeUrl`. The site is not live until finalize succeeds. Full walkthrough with request/response examples: https://here.now/docs#create (then #upload and #finalize), machine-readable schemas: https://here.now/openapi.json.

## Create a site

```bash
./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

```bash
./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.

**Stale-base protection.** The live Site may have changed since your local files were published — the owner can edit it from other tools (another agent, the here.now Studio, a teammate). The script records the live `versionId` in `.herenow/state.json` after each publish and sends it as `baseVersionId` on the next update of the same slug from the same directory; if the live Site moved past it, the update is rejected with `code: "version_conflict"` naming the live version and what created it. When that happens, relay the message to the user and offer to (a) read the live files with `GET /api/v1/publish/{slug}/files` (lists them with a `url` each) and `GET /api/v1/publish/{slug}/files/{path}` (the bytes; owner API key, works for password-protected and restricted Sites without the visitor password), reconcile them into the local files, and republish, or (b) re-run with `--overwrite` to replace the live version anyway. Before editing local files for an authenticated Site you haven't touched recently, check for drift first: `GET /api/v1/publish/{slug}` returns `currentVersionId` plus `currentVersionSource` and `currentVersionCreatedAt` (what changed it and when, e.g. `studio`) — if the id differs from your state file's `versionId`, read the live files before editing. The published version is the shared truth; never fetch the public URL to read an owned Site (it is gated for protected Sites) and never ask the user for a visitor password to read their own Site. Anonymous Sites can't call these endpoints; they rely on the saved state and server enforcement. Omitting `baseVersionId` (or using `--overwrite`) is an unchecked full replacement — today's default for raw API callers.

Every publish records an immutable version. If the user asks to see earlier versions of a Site, undo a publish, or roll back: list history with `GET /api/v1/publish/{slug}/versions` and restore instantly with `POST /api/v1/publish/{slug}/versions/{versionId}/restore` (restoring keeps the current access mode, password, and domains). Version access requires a paid plan and is included for workspace Sites; free accounts' history is recorded and unlocks on upgrade. A byte-identical republish returns `unchanged: true` from finalize instead of creating a new version. See https://here.now/docs#versions.

Signed-in users also have public profiles. Agents can help users show or hide Sites on their profile and manage profile settings through the API documented at https://here.now/docs#profile.

## Publish to a workspace

Workspaces are shared team accounts: Sites published into one belong to the team, not the publishing member, and get a memorable URL at `{label}.{workspace}.here.now`.

```bash
./scripts/publish.sh {file-or-dir} --workspace {subdomain}
```

Requires a saved API key and membership in the workspace. List the user's workspaces (and valid subdomains) with `GET /api/v1/accounts`. Workspace Sites default to member-only access; the script reports the team URL as `publish_result.account_url`.

For everything else — creating workspaces, invites and auto-join, workspace domains and variables, label renames — read the current docs:

→ **https://here.now/docs#workspaces**

## Site access control

A Site uses one access mode at a time:

- **anyone_with_link** (default): anyone with the URL can view.
- **password**: visitors must enter a shared password.
- **restricted**: invite-only; only verified email addresses or email domains the owner allows can view.

Workspace-owned Sites default to **account_members** (visitors sign in and must be workspace members) and also support public, public with a password, and **restricted**. On a workspace Site, `restricted` means workspace members plus a per-Site guest allowlist: members always have access, and allowlisted emails/domains are outside guests who can view only that Site — they never become workspace members, though the Site appears in the guest's own dashboard as a shared Site. Workspace restricted requires at least one guest email or domain — an empty allowlist is rejected with a 400 (use `account_members` for members-only). See https://here.now/docs#workspace-access.

Manage access with `GET`/`PATCH /api/v1/publish/{slug}/access` (passwords via the metadata endpoint). Restricted access requires a claimed Site. The PATCH replaces the full allowlists — read, merge, then write. Before working with access control, read the current docs:

→ **https://here.now/docs#access-control**

## Use a Drive

Use a Drive when the user wants private cloud storage for agent files: documents, context, memory, plans, assets, media, research, code, and anything else that should persist without being published as a website.

Every signed-in account has a default Drive named `My Drive`.

```bash
./scripts/drive.sh default
./scripts/drive.sh ls My Drive
./scripts/drive.sh put My Drive notes/today.md --from ./notes/today.md
./scripts/drive.sh cat My Drive notes/today.md
./scripts/drive.sh share My Drive --perms write --prefix notes/ --ttl 7d
```

Use scoped Drive tokens for agent-to-agent handoff. If you receive a `herenow_drive` share block, use its `token` as `Authorization: Bearer <token>` against `api_base`, respect `pathPrefix` when present, and preserve ETags on writes. A `pathPrefix` of `null` means full-Drive access. If the skill is available, prefer `./scripts/drive.sh`; otherwise call the listed API operations directly.

## Client attribution

Pass `--client` with the name of the **agent product or harness you are running in** — `cursor`, `claude-code`, `codex`, `grok-bot`, `openclaw`, `gemini`, etc:

```bash
./scripts/publish.sh {file-or-dir} --client claude-code
```

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

Use the platform's name, **not** the name you were given inside it. If you are a bot named "research-bot" running inside Grok Bot, the correct value is `grok-bot` — not `research-bot`. Bot names, personas, sub-agents, projects, and thread names don't identify the platform. To record your instance name too, append it after a slash:

```bash
./scripts/publish.sh {file-or-dir} --client grok-bot/research-bot
```

Only a standalone agent running in no harness should use its own product name.

## 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:

```bash
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.

## 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:

```bash
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:

```bash
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):

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

## State file

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

```json
{
  "publishes": {
    "bright-canvas-a7k2": {
      "siteUrl": "https://bright-canvas-a7k2.here.now/",
      "claimToken": "4fQ9tK2mXb7cW1pZ",
      "claimUrl": "https://here.now/c/4fQ9tK2mXb7cW1pZ",
      "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

For published sites:

- Always share the `siteUrl` from the current script run.
- Put the site URL on its own line with nothing else on that line — no punctuation, dashes, or status text after it (chat clients autolink everything up to whitespace, gluing your words into the URL). Status details like "permanent, saved to your account" go on the following line.
- Read and follow `publish_result.*` lines from script stderr to determine auth mode.
- When `publish_result.account_url` is non-empty (workspace publishes), share it as the primary team URL alongside `siteUrl`.
- 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. Copy it byte-for-byte as a clickable link — never shorten, redact, summarize, or replace any part of it with `...`; a modified claim link will not work. 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.

For Drives:

- Do not describe Drive files as public URLs.
- Tell the user Drive contents are private unless shared with a scoped token.
- When sharing access with another agent, prefer a scoped token with a narrow `pathPrefix` and short TTL.

## publish.sh options

| Flag                   | Description                                  |
| ---------------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| `--slug {slug}`        | Update an existing site instead of creating |
| `--workspace {subdomain}` | Publish into a workspace (team account) you belong to |
| `--claim-token {token}`| Override claim token for anonymous updates    |
| `--overwrite`          | Skip the stale-base check and replace the live version |
| `--title {text}`       | Viewer title (non-HTML sites)             |
| `--description {text}` | Viewer description                            |
| `--ttl {seconds}`      | Set expiry (authenticated only)               |
| `--client {name}`      | Agent harness for attribution — the platform you run in (e.g. `cursor`, `grok-bot`), not your bot/persona name; optionally append it: `grok-bot/research-bot` |
| `--base-url {url}`     | API base URL (default: `https://here.now`)    |
| `--allow-nonherenow-base-url` | Allow sending auth to non-default `--base-url` |
| `--api-key {key}`      | API key override (prefer credentials file)    |
| `--spa`                | Enable SPA routing (serve index.html for unknown paths) |

## Beyond publish.sh

For Drive operations, use `./scripts/drive.sh` or the Drive API. For broader account and Site management — Site Data, search, analytics, profiles, delete, metadata, access control, domains, variables, proxy routes, duplication, and more — see the current docs:

→ **https://here.now/docs**

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