Putting your app online

While you build, your app runs only on your computer. To let other people use it, a copy has to run on a computer that is on the internet. Claude Code can help you do that today.

Preview and live

Preview is the app running in NodeGX on your computer. Only you can see it. If you send someone the address, it will not work for them.

Live is a copy of the app running on a computer on the internet, at a web address anyone can open.

If your app saves data, such as records or user accounts, that data is kept on your computer too, by a local backend (a small program NodeGX sets up to store it). A live app needs its own backend running online as well.

What hosting is

Hosting means renting space on a computer that is always on and connected to the internet. The company you rent it from is called the host.

Which kind you need depends on one question: does your app save data?

• It only shows pages (no log-ins, nothing saved): use Netlify. It can be free.
• It saves data (records, log-ins or cloud functions): rent a small server. This is your own slice of a computer in a data centre, from a company such as Hetzner, DigitalOcean or Hostinger.

If you are not sure which kind of app you have, Claude can tell you. The prompt below asks it to.

What it costs

What	Rough cost
An app that only shows pages, on Netlify	Can be free
A small server, for an app that saves data	About $4–7 a month
A domain name (your own web address)	About $10–15 a year

Don't get caught out:

• Very cheap headline prices often mean paying a year or two up front. Check what you will pay today, and the monthly price after that.
• A rented server keeps charging until you delete it. If you stop using one, ask Claude to help you delete it.
• Ask for the price first. Before you sign up for anything, ask Claude what it will cost.

A domain name

A domain name is your own web address, like mypuppyclub.com. You rent it by the year from a company that sells them.

You do not need one to start. Netlify gives your app a free address of its own, such as yourapp.netlify.app. When you want your own name, Claude can walk you through buying one and pointing it at your app.

How to do it today

NodeGX will do this step for you soon. For now, Claude Code can help.

First, put your project on GitHub. Putting an app online needs a free GitHub account with your project saved in it. GitHub basics shows you how.

Then open a new conversation in the Code tab of the Claude desktop app and paste this:

I want to put my NodeGX project online so other people can use it.
Please:
1. Look at the project and tell me whether it only shows pages, or whether it saves data and needs a backend.
2. Recommend one way to host it, and tell me what it will cost before I sign up for anything.
3. Walk me through each step one at a time, and tell me exactly what to click on any website.
4. Keep all passwords and keys out of GitHub.
5. Ask me before you spend money, or change anything on a live server.

Claude will ask you to make an account with the host. You do the signing up and the paying yourself; Claude tells you what to click and does the rest.

When it is done, open the web address on your phone as well as your computer, and check each page.

Stay safe

Try it with made-up data first. Put the app online with pretend names and records, and check it works. Add real information only after that.

Passwords and keys never go into GitHub. This is the one rule from GitHub basics. It matters even more once an app is live.

Putting an app online makes it public. Anyone with the address can open it, and anything the app shows can be seen. Before real people use it, ask Claude:

Before this goes live, check what someone can see or change without logging in. List anything that should be private.

Change your own copy first. Once people use the app, make changes in NodeGX on your computer, check them in preview, and then ask Claude to update the live app.

Advanced

What Claude does on a server

To set up a rented server, Claude usually connects to it over SSH (a secure way to run commands on another computer). SSH uses a key: a pair of files in the ~/.ssh folder on your computer. The server lets in whoever holds the private half.

That key lives on the computer you set things up from. Keep updating the live app from that computer, or copy the ~/.ssh folder across carefully. Back up that folder: if you lose the private key, you can lose access to your server.

Never share the private key file (the one without .pub on the end), and never let it into GitHub.

Quick reference

• Preview is only on your computer. Live is on the internet, for anyone.
• Pages only: Netlify, can be free. Saves data: a small server, about $4–7 a month. Domain name: about $10–15 a year.
• Very cheap headline prices often mean paying a year or two up front.
• You need a free GitHub account first: GitHub basics.
• Try it with made-up data first. Passwords and keys never go into GitHub.
• NodeGX will handle this step itself soon.