Going Live

From your screen to a real address

Right now your tool only exists on your computer. Going live means it lives at its own web address, the kind you can open on your phone, send to your team, or point a member at. Four small services hand your code along until it is live on your own domain.

The loopGoing liveKeeping it safe
The one idea behind going live
Going live is just a relay. Your code gets handed from one service to the next, each doing a single job, until it lands on a computer that is always on and answers at your domain.

You wire the relay once. After that, every change you make travels the same path on its own.

The stack

Four pieces, one job each

You do not need to understand how each one works inside. You need to know what it is for. Here is the whole stack in plain words.

where your code is kept

GitHub the safe

Keeps every version of your code, with a full history. If a change goes wrong, you can roll straight back to the version that worked.

where it runs

DigitalOcean the always-on computer

A computer that lives on the internet and never sleeps, so your tool is there when you open it, and there at 3am when a member does too.

what puts it there

Coolify the robot

Takes your code out of the safe and runs it on the always-on computer. Every time you ship a change, it does the heavy lifting for you.

how people find it

Cloudflare the signpost

Points your domain name at the right computer, so typing your web address actually finds your tool instead of going nowhere.

The padlock, the little lock in the address bar, gets handled next, in Keeping It Safe.

Save to live

Watch one change go live

This is the whole journey of a single change, from the moment you save it to the moment it is live on your domain. Press play and watch it travel the relay.

💾
Save
📦
GitHub
🤖
Coolify
🖥
DigitalOcean
🧭
Cloudflare
🌐
Live on your domain

Wire it once, and every future change runs this exact path.

Step by step

Get it live, step by step

You do this once. Each step is written out like a recipe, with a picture of what you should be seeing, so you always know you are in the right place. The hard parts are all one-time, and after this, shipping a change is a single sentence.

1

Set up GitHub, your code's safe

a
Make the account. Go to github.com/signup, enter your email, a password (15+ characters), a username, your country, then click Create account. Type in the code GitHub emails you. (Or click "Continue with Google" to skip the form.)
github.com/signup Create your account EMAIL you@yourstudio.com PASSWORD ••••••••••••••• USERNAME yourstudio Create account or Continue with Google skips the whole form
What you'll see · github.com/signup
b
Open the terminal in the Claude app. Press Ctrl + ` (the key above Tab), or go to Views then Terminal. Paste these two lines, one at a time.
Paste into the app's terminal
brew install gh
gh auth login
c
It asks a few questions. Pick GitHub.com, then HTTPS, then Yes, then Login with a web browser. Copy the short code it shows, press Enter, then paste it in the browser and click Authorize.
TERMINAL · INSIDE THE CLAUDE APP $ gh auth login ? Where do you use GitHub? GitHub.com ? What is your preferred protocol? HTTPS ? Authenticate Git with your credentials? Yes ? How would you like to authenticate? Login with a web browser ! First copy your one-time code: ABCD-1234 Press Enter, then paste the code in the browser and click Authorize. ✓ Logged in as yourstudio
What you'll see · the terminal, after you paste gh auth login

Done once. Claude can now save your code and push every update for you. You just approve when it asks.

2

Rent your always-on computer

a
Make a DigitalOcean account and create a small server (they call it a "Droplet", running Ubuntu). The cheapest ones are too small for Coolify, which needs 2 cores and 2 GB of memory. Ask Claude which exact plan fits so you do not overpay.
cloud.digitalocean.com Create Droplet CHOOSE AN IMAGE Ubuntu pick this one Fedora Debian CHOOSE A SIZE $6/mo too small for Coolify $18/mo 2 cores · 2 GB START HERE $24/mo 4 GB · room to grow Coolify needs at least 2 cores and 2 GB of memory. You can resize up later. Create Droplet
What you'll see · creating your Droplet
b
Install Coolify on it. Paste the one line Claude gives you into the server, and wait a couple of minutes while it sets itself up.
c
Open Coolify in your browser and set your own admin email and password. This is your control panel.
http://your-server-ip:8000 Coolify Create your admin account EMAIL you@yourstudio.com PASSWORD •••••••••• Register
What you'll see · Coolify's first screen, your control panel
Say to Claude
"Which DigitalOcean droplet should I pick for a small web app, and what is the command to install Coolify on it?"

You now own a computer on the internet that never sleeps.

3

Point your domain at it

a
Add your domain to Cloudflare (a free account). If you do not own a domain yet, buy one first, any registrar will do.
b
Add one record. Type A, name = your address (or a word like app for a subdomain), value = your server's IP. Then switch the orange cloud to grey. This is the one step you do fully by hand.
dash.cloudflare.com DNS records yourstudio.com TYPE A NAME app IPV4 ADDRESS your server's IP PROXY STATUS DNS only grey cloud, not orange Save One record does it. Claude gives you the exact values to type.
What you'll see · adding the one record in Cloudflare
Say to Claude
"What is my server's IP, and the exact DNS record to add in Cloudflare?"

Type your address into a browser and it now finds your server.

4

Ship it

a
Back in the Claude app, tell Claude to deploy. Coolify pulls your code, builds it, and serves it. In about a minute, your tool answers at your domain, with the padlock on.
Say to Claude
"Deploy this to Coolify and point it at my domain."
https://app.yourstudio.com Your Tool
What you'll see · your tool, live at your own address

It is live, at your own address.

The payoff

Wire it so Claude ships on its own

The first time, you ship by hand. But you can wire it so the moment your change is saved, it deploys itself: no button, no command. This is where it starts to feel like magic.

1

You make a change and you are happy with it.

2

You tell Claude to push it to the safe.

3

You trigger the deploy yourself, then wait for it to land.

It works, and it is the safe default. The only cost is that it is three steps, every single time.

1

You say "ship it."

2

Claude pushes your change, and the deploy fires on its own the instant it lands.

3

You watch your tool update at its real address. Hands off the wheel.

Hands-free is a setting you turn on once. Until you do, by-hand is perfectly fine, and there is nothing wrong with staying there.

Next

It is live. Now make it safe.

Live means anyone with the address can open it. That is exactly when safety starts to matter, because the moment your tool holds a member's name or number, you are responsible for it. One more gate before it touches real data.

Keeping it safe →