Convert your AI site into an app you can edit

What this covers

A generated site is deliberately locked down: it contains no JavaScript, which is why it is fast and safe but also why it cannot talk to a backend from the browser. Converting hands the same site, on the same address and the same plan, over to you as an ordinary app deployment. From then on you deploy it from Git or by uploading a zip, you can add whatever JavaScript you want, and you can connect a database.

Before you start

Publish the site first — converting hands over a site that is already running, so 'Deploy to App' comes first. Be sure you want to: conversion is one-way, because pointing the studio back at code you have since edited would overwrite your work.

How to do it

1. Publish your site with Deploy to App and check it looks right at its live address.
2. In the AI studio, click 'Convert to editable app'.
3. The site keeps its address and its plan. Its name changes from '(AI Site)' to '(App)' and it appears under 'Apps you own'.
4. Click 'Manage app' to open the service page, where you can deploy from a Git repository or upload a zip of your files.
5. Download your current site first if you want a starting point — 'Download files' in the AI studio gives you the whole site as a zip, one folder per page.
6. To add a backend, order a PocketBase Backend from the catalogue and call it from your app's JavaScript. See 'Connect an app to PocketBase' in App Deployment.

What our team checks

None. Conversion, Git deploys and zip uploads are all self-serve.