Getting Started with ShipSite Cloud

Step 1: Sign up and create a project

Head to app.shipsite.dev and create your free account. No credit card required. You can start with the free tier, which includes one project, ten deploys per day, and a shipsite.dev subdomain.

Once you are signed in, click New Project and give it a name. ShipSite creates a workspace for you automatically. The workspace is where you manage your project settings, team members, and deployment configuration.

Step 2: Connect your GitHub repository

Click Connect GitHub in your project settings. Authorize the ShipSite GitHub App and select the repository that contains your site. ShipSite only requests access to the repositories you choose.

ShipSite looks for a shipsite.json file in your repo root. This file defines your site structure, navigation, colors, pages, and locales. If you are starting fresh, use the CLI scaffolder to create a complete project in seconds:

npx create-shipsite my-site
cd my-site
git init && git add -A && git commit -m "Initial commit"

The scaffolder walks you through choosing colors, fonts, and languages. Push the repo to GitHub and ShipSite picks it up automatically.

Step 3: Edit and deploy

Open the Editor tab in your project dashboard. You will see your content files in a file tree on the left and a live preview on the right. The editor supports MDX syntax highlighting, bracket matching, and a component palette where you can browse all 46+ available components.

Make a change to any MDX file and click Commit. ShipSite pushes the change to GitHub, triggers a build, and deploys the updated site to the edge. The whole process typically takes under 30 seconds.

Your site is live at yourproject.shipsite.dev. When you are ready, connect a custom domain from the project settings. On Pro and Team plans, SSL certificates are provisioned automatically.

Step 4: Validate your SEO

After your first deploy, check the SEO Dashboard in your project. ShipSite automatically validates meta titles, descriptions, heading structure, image alt text, and accessibility compliance for every page. Follow the prioritized recommendations to improve your scores.

What is next?

• Browse the component library to see all 46+ available components
• Set up a custom domain for your production site
• Check your SEO score in the dashboard and follow the recommendations
• Explore the pricing plans to find the right tier for your needs