Site Builder

The Site Builder is a nine-step wizard that takes you from an empty folder to a personalized, running zer0-mistakes site. It lives at /setup/ on any local build of the theme and on the welcome screen of a fresh remote-theme site. An embedded Claude session sits beside every step: it can read your answers, fill in the forms, check your machine, read the theme’s real source code, write the generated project to disk, and start Docker.

flowchart LR
    A([Connect]) --> B[Prerequisites]
    B --> C[Identity]
    C --> D[URLs]
    D --> E[Structure]
    E --> F[Appearance]
    F --> G[Voice]
    G --> H[Integrations]
    H --> I([Build & launch])

What you’ll do

Open the wizard, connect Claude through the local dev proxy, answer a handful of questions, and leave with a project folder that serves at http://localhost:4000 and is ready to push to GitHub Pages.

Prerequisites

• A local checkout of the theme with its dev server running (docker compose up in the theme repository), or any site that uses the welcome layout.
• Node.js 20.6 or newer, for the dev proxy that connects Claude.
• The Claude Code CLI signed in to a Claude Pro or Max account, so claude setup-token can mint a token. Without it the wizard still works; only the Claude panel and the one-click build actions stay off.
• Docker Desktop, Git, and the GitHub CLI for the site you are about to build. The Prerequisites step checks these for you and shows the install command for your operating system.

Walk through the wizard

The wizard has nine steps; this walkthrough groups them into six passes.

Connect

Open http://localhost:4000/setup/. The Connect step looks for the dev proxy and shows three commands when it is not running:

claude setup-token                                           # prints sk-ant-oat01-…
echo 'CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN=sk-ant-oat01-…' >> .env        # git-ignored, theme root
node --env-file=.env templates/deploy/chat-proxy/dev-proxy.mjs

The page re-checks every fifteen seconds. Once the badge in the Claude panel turns green, the composer unlocks and the panel greets you. The token never reaches the browser: the proxy holds it and the page only talks to http://localhost:8787.

Prerequisites

Press Run checks. The proxy runs a fixed list of read-only version commands (Docker, the Docker engine, Git and its identity, the GitHub CLI and its login, VS Code, Node, the Claude CLI) and the checklist turns green or red per tool. Pick your operating system to see the matching install command, or ask Claude to explain what is missing. Offline, tick each item as you install it.

Identity, URLs and Structure

Describe your site in the brief box and press Draft with Claude. Claude proposes a title, subtitle, tagline and description and applies them after you confirm on the inline card. Fill in your GitHub username and repository, press Suggest to derive the site URL and base path, then pick a kind of site to preselect collections and a navigation menu you can edit row by row.

Appearance and Voice

Choose one of the seven skins and preview it on the page you are looking at, set the color mode, and pick a tone and audience. Draft both with Claude writes the welcome post and about page in that voice; both are plain Markdown you can edit before they become files.

Integrations

Switch on what you want: the improve-this-page widget, Obsidian wiki-links, Giscus comments, PostHog analytics, or the AI chat assistant. Nothing sends data until you add an ID or key, and keys never go in _config.yml.

Build

Every generated file is in the preview panel the whole time. Enter a project folder name, press Check to see where it will be created, then Write project. Press docker compose up and watch the build in the terminal panel. When Jekyll reports it is serving, Open site takes you to the new site. Without the proxy, download the bundle and run it:

bash zer0-site-bundle.sh my-site
cd my-site && docker compose up

Verify

• The Claude panel badge reads connected and the Build step buttons are enabled.
• docker compose ps in the new folder shows a running jekyll service.
• http://localhost:4000/ (or the port you chose) renders your title, skin and welcome post.
• zer0.install.yml in the new folder records your answers so the installer can replay them.

Troubleshooting

Related

• Machine Setup is the manual reference behind the Prerequisites step.
• Site Builder feature reference documents the tools, the proxy routes, and the safety model.
• AI Chat Assistant explains the proxy the builder reuses.