Project management

Swebsy projects are local-first: the Studio saves your site in your browser as you edit, and a free account can additionally keep a synced copy in your account. The Project menu is where you manage the project lifecycle: start a new site, make a copy, rename, delete, import a backup, or export a backup.

Backups are your portable source of truth

Browser storage is convenient, but it is still browser storage. Export a project backup before clearing site data, changing devices, switching browsers, or making major edits.

Use the Project menu for project lifecycle actions. Use the Publish button when you need a website ZIP or deployment.

Create a project

1. From the dashboard, click New site, or Create your first site when the list is empty.

2. Choose a template or start from a blank site.
3. Wait for the Studio to open.

Each card shows its template in the mode it was designed in. Use Light | Dark at the right of the filters to see every template in light or in dark; click the picked mode again to go back to each template’s own design. This only changes the covers, not the site you create.

Expected result

Swebsy creates a new editable project in your browser and opens it in the Studio.

Inside the Studio, you can also open Project → New site to return to the new site flow.

Manage projects with ChatGPT, Claude or a coding agent

After you connect ChatGPT, Claude or a coding agent, it can manage local projects from either Home or Studio:

• discover installed templates
• create Swebsy’s standard blank project or import a template unchanged
• list saved projects newest-first without loading their page content
• open a project by its authoritative site ID
• rename the internal project name shown on Home and in the Studio topbar

Creating or opening a project navigates the paired browser tab. The agent must wait for swebsy_status to report the expected siteId and editorReady: true before it starts editing. Duplicate project names are allowed, so the agent uses site IDs rather than names when selecting a project.

Agent-driven rename changes only the internal project name. It does not change the SEO/public title. Copy, delete, and import remain explicit actions in the Project menu; they are not exposed through the public MCP tools. Agents can write a portable project backup with swebsy_export.

Rename, copy, or delete

Use Project → Rename when the site name shown in the topbar or dashboard is wrong. You can also click the pencil icon beside the site title in the topbar.

Use Project → Make a copy before risky edits, large AI changes, or design experiments. A copy is a separate local project, so you can keep the original unchanged while you test changes.

Use Project → Delete only when you are sure the project is no longer needed. Export a backup first if you may need the project again.

Back up and restore

A project backup is a JSON file that restores the editable Swebsy project. It is different from the exported website ZIP.

1. Open Project → Export Project.
2. Save the downloaded JSON file somewhere safe.
3. To restore it later, open Project → Import Project.
4. Select the JSON backup file and confirm the import.

Expected result

The backup JSON lets you move the editable project to another browser or device. Import replaces the current project, so export the current state first if you need to keep it.

Read Project backups for what is included, what is excluded, and why secrets are stripped from backup files.

ZIP export vs project backup

Need	Use
Host the finished site	Publish → Download site (ZIP)
Publish with Swebsy Hosting	Publish menu
Deploy to GitHub Pages	Publish menu
Deploy to Cloudflare Pages	Publish menu
Keep an editable copy of the Swebsy project	Project → Export Project
Move the project to another browser or computer	Project → Export/Import Project
Send clean HTML, CSS, and assets to a developer or host	Publish → Download site (ZIP)
Save a restore point before large edits or browser cleanup	Project → Export Project

The ZIP is the published website output. The backup JSON is the editor project. Keep both when a project matters: the ZIP for hosting, the JSON backup for future edits.

Local browser storage

Swebsy stores local project data in your browser. That means:

• projects are available on the same browser profile and device
• clearing site data can remove projects
• private browsing windows may not keep projects reliably
• another browser or computer will not automatically have your projects

Before you clear browser data, reset a browser profile, change computers, or hand work to someone else, export a project backup.

Recover on another browser or device

1. Open the original browser and project.
2. Export a project backup with Project → Export Project.
3. Move the JSON file to the new browser or device.
4. Open Swebsy and use Project → Import Project.
5. Open the imported project and verify pages, assets, and settings.

If the original browser data is already gone and you do not have a backup, the local project cannot be recovered.

Common issues

I exported a ZIP but cannot edit it in Swebsy — the ZIP is the static website output. Use Project → Export Project to create an editable backup.

My project disappeared after browser cleanup — browser site data was likely removed. Restore from your latest project backup JSON.

Import replaced the wrong project — import overwrites the current project. If you still have the previous state in another tab, export it before closing.

The backup is large — uploaded assets are included in backups. Compress large images and videos before uploading them to keep backups smaller.