fromscratch
Help center

Publish, republish, unpublish

Everything the Publish button does: the first publication, republishing after changes, taking a site offline, and what to do when a build fails.

Updated 3 min read
On this page
  1. Who can publish
  2. Publish for the first time
  3. Republish after changes
  4. Take a site offline
  5. When publishing fails
  6. Shops
  7. FAQ
  8. Related

Publishing turns your project into a live website with its own public HTTPS address. This page is the reference for the Publish button and its states: first publication, updates, taking a site offline, and failures. For a quick first walkthrough, see Publish your site.

Who can publish

Publishing is part of the Starter and Pro plans. On the Free plan the button reads « Publish — Starter or Pro » and opens the upgrade dialog. Starter can be tried for free, without a card: see The free trial (no card). A collaborator with the Editor role on a shared project can also publish.

Publish for the first time

  1. Make sure the site works in the preview, on Desktop and Mobile.
  2. Click Publish in the project's top bar. The button shows « Publishing… ».
  3. FromScratch builds a production version of your app from the current state of the project and deploys it. This usually takes a few minutes; shops take longer than simple sites.
  4. When it is done, the button turns into « Live » with a link icon. Click it to open your site in a new tab. The bell also notifies you that the project was published online.

Your site's address is built from the project's site address (the subdomain shown under the project name) and comes with HTTPS. You can change the address — see Your site address and DNS — and attach your own domain with Domain.

Each publication is also recorded in Versions as « Published version », so you always know which state is online.

Tip

when your site works, the chat may show « Your site works: put it online » with a Put it online button: it does the same as Publish.

Republish after changes

The live site does not change when you keep working: the agent edits the preview only. When you are happy with a batch of changes, click Republish (its tooltip says « Rebuild and redeploy »). FromScratch rebuilds and redeploys; the address stays the same.

Republish when you have:

  • changed pages, texts, images or features,
  • changed the site address,
  • connected payments in a shop (« Republish the shop to take payments on the live site »).

Environment variables are different: saving Variables on a published project updates the live site directly. See Environment variables.

Take a site offline

Next to « Live », the small Unpublish button asks « Take this app offline? ». Confirming removes the public site (« Unpublished »). Your project, its preview and its versions stay untouched, and you can publish again later.

When publishing fails

  • « Build failed » — the production build of your app stopped on an error. Click Retry. If it fails again, ask the agent in the chat: it can look at the problem and fix it, then publish again.
  • « timed out — check the status, then try again » — the publication took longer than expected. Wait a minute, reload the project to see whether it went live, then try again.
Example prompt
Publishing my site fails with "Build failed". Can you find what breaks the production build and fix it?

Note

a site that works in the preview can still fail its production build (for example an unused file with an error). The agent can run the same build to find it.

Shops

Shops are published the same way, with their store admin at its own address. Payments, products and the admin have a few specifics: see Publish and update a shop.

FAQ

Does republishing change my address?

No. The address only changes if you change the site address yourself.

Do visitors see my unfinished changes?

No. They see the last version you published until you click Republish.

Can I go back to an older published version?

Open Versions, click Go back here on that version, then Republish.

Was this page helpful?