Sites Building

Sites building

Build the complete requested site, validate it, then use sites-hosting unless the user explicitly asks to keep it local.

Communicate clearly

Assume the user is a nontechnical knowledge worker. Talk about their site, choices, progress, and results. Keep tools, commands, files, runtimes, browser software, permissions, dependencies, source control, credentials, IDs, builds, and deployment internals out of user-facing messages unless the user asks or must take action.

Use no more than one short update for each user-visible phase: preparing the site, building it, and publishing. If a phase takes longer than 60 seconds, give one plain-language update. Keep recoverable technical problems private; say only that you hit a problem and are trying another method.

Ask one concise group of up to three discovery questions only when important context is missing and the unresolved details would materially affect the site's functionality or force a risky assumption. Otherwise proceed immediately with best judgment. Do not generate design options or pause for a visual selection unless the user explicitly asks to compare designs.

Choose the execution path

Use the one-shot fast path only when all of these are true:

• this is a new site in an empty or projectless workspace;
• one route can satisfy the request;
• the request does not require D1, R2, uploads, app-owned authentication, external connectors, or browser UI QA; and
• the normal deliverable is a private deployed URL.

Use the capability path otherwise. This includes existing-site changes, multi-route sites, persistent data, uploads, authentication, external data, and requested browser testing.

Use imagery purposefully

Avoid model-authored SVGs in finished sites, including inline SVG illustrations. Prefer strong typography, color, layout, CSS shapes, and existing icon components when imagery is unnecessary. When a site needs real imagery, prefer suitable images found through web image search. Use imagegen if and only if original imagery is important and a suitable existing image is unavailable; generation adds latency, so keep it purposeful and limited.

Start new projects immediately

For a new site in an empty or projectless workspace, make setup the first task action. Run this plugin's root-level scripts/init-site.sh with $PWD as its target and retain the session until installation completes. Do not run a second initializer.

In a visible foreground thread, wait for setup to finish, then immediately start npm run dev in a retained session. Use the exact Local URL printed by the development server and call open_in_codex once. Complete these startup steps before asking any necessary discovery questions. The user should see the starter loading skeleton before implementation begins; continue building the requested site through HMR and keep the development server alive through build and hosting.

In a delegated, background, or invisible thread, initialize normally but do not start a browser-only preview unless the task otherwise needs the server.

One-shot build

After setup and any necessary clarification, build and deploy the complete site in one focused pass.

1. Reuse the retained setup, development server, and browser tab started above. Start or open anything here only when the corresponding earlier step did not happen. Preserve the package manager and lockfile.
2. Start by inspecting app/page.tsx, app/layout.tsx, app/globals.css, and .openai/hosting.json. Read other files only when the implementation needs them. Avoid broad scans and speculative research.
3. Make one complete product patch. Prefer one page component and one stylesheet. Include all requested content, interactions, responsive behavior, keyboard and touch behavior when relevant, and accessible labels. The starter loading skeleton is temporary infrastructure, not product UI. Once the requested first version replaces it, remove app/_sites-preview and its imports. If nothing else uses react-loading-skeleton, remove that dependency and refresh the lockfile. Remove the temporary codex-preview metadata marker, replace the starter title and description with the requested site's own values, and update starter icons when appropriate before the final build unless the user explicitly asked to work on the starter itself.
4. As soon as implementation is complete, run npm run build while the retained npm run dev process stays alive. Fix actual build failures, then rerun it. Run lint separately only if the build omits compilation or the user asks.
5. Follow the shared preview rules below.
6. Continue to sites-hosting. Avoid an unnecessary polish pass after the build succeeds.

Capability path

Project setup

• For a new site, use the setup flow in Start new projects immediately and preserve the bundled vinext structure.
• For an existing site, preserve its package manager, lockfile, scripts, architecture, and .openai/hosting.json. Install only when dependencies are absent. Do not replace a working structure merely to use the starter.
• Keep site code within the selected project surface.

Shape the product

• Build the first viewport around the requested product, not generic dashboard chrome.
• For a new site, replace the starter loading skeleton completely and remove app/_sites-preview and its imports. Remove react-loading-skeleton and refresh the lockfile if the finished site no longer uses it. Remove the temporary codex-preview metadata marker, update app/layout.tsx with the finished site's title and description, and replace any other starter metadata before final validation. Preserve the skeleton only when the user explicitly asked to work on the starter itself.
• Use concrete, product-specific copy and realistic data.
• Once the site's visual direction, primary headline, and supporting copy are stable, freeze a compact social-preview brief and launch exactly one imagegen request in parallel with the remaining site implementation and validation. Ask imagegen to create the complete social card, including its typography, as one cohesive landscape image. The card must represent the actual finished site by reusing its content, brand palette, typography treatment, and distinctive visual motifs; optimize it for visual impact and legibility in X, Slack, iMessage, and other link unfurls.
• Inspect the returned image for incorrect, missing, or invented text. Retry once only when the card is unusable; do not generate multiple candidates in parallel. If validation succeeds, save the image as public/og.png and update app/layout.tsx with site-specific Open Graph and X metadata using an absolute URL derived from the incoming request host. Run the final build after wiring the asset. Never ship a generic or starter fallback image; if no bespoke card passes validation, omit og:image instead.
• Avoid speculative features and unnecessary client state.
• Use the starter's sites() Vite plugin and produce Cloudflare Worker-compatible ESM output.

Add only requested capabilities

• For durable state, records, uploads, or other persistence, read Persistence and storage.
• For any SQLite schema or query work, also read SQLite.
• For identity-aware or sign-in-gated behavior, read Authentication.
• Use browser storage only for device-local preferences or explicitly local state.
• Keep logical D1 and R2 declarations in .openai/hosting.json; Sites owns the real Cloudflare resources and deployment wiring.
• Keep local .env and .env.example keys aligned. Manage hosted runtime values through Sites.

Validate capability work

• Run the deployment build once after the complete implementation. If a D1 schema changed, generate and inspect its migration. Fix real failures before hosting.

Preview

• In a visible foreground thread, reuse the tab opened during startup. If no tab was opened, call open_in_codex once with the exact Local URL printed by the healthy development server. If it fails, report it and continue.
• For an existing site, preserve its normal package and development flow.
• In a delegated, background, or invisible thread, skip open_in_codex and say why.
• Perform no screenshots, DOM inspection, clicking, resizing, or visual QA unless the user explicitly requests browser testing.
• Do not scan ports or repeatedly open the browser.

Hosting handoff

Use sites-hosting after validation. Do not finish with only a local build unless the user requested local-only work. Return the deployed Sites URL as the primary deliverable. Do not include file paths, commands, or validation jargon unless the user asks. Keep the development server running until hosting finishes, then stop it during final teardown.