Publish an AI-Generated Static Website

Publish the folder that contains the finished index.html, then test the public URL and every route. A page that works on localhost has not yet passed a deployment check. This guide starts with reviewed plain HTML, CSS, and local assets. It does not cover exporting from Bolt, v0, or another builder; that workflow has its own guide. It also does not cover diagnosing why an existing builder site is absent from Google.

What files should be ready to upload?

Use a folder with index.html at its top level. In this fictional example, the folder also contains styles.css, services/index.html, and contact/index.html:

site-output/
  index.html
  styles.css
  services/index.html
  contact/index.html

This is an example artifact, not a site we deployed. Before publication, replace hello@example.com and every other placeholder. Confirm that business facts, images, fonts, and logos are approved for public use. Remove test data, secrets, local paths, and scripts you do not need. A public static site exposes its delivered files to visitors; do not put credentials in the folder. If the files came from a framework, upload the built output rather than an unbuilt source directory. Keep the exact tested output folder as your release copy.

How can you publish the plain folder?

Choose the host for the result you need. For a report, calculator, or prototype that you will share by link, Figment's HTML upload accepts built browser files. For a website that needs a custom domain and search indexing, use a host such as Netlify. Figment's HTML apps currently have no custom domains and use noindex.

Share browser files through Figment

Start with the free HTML hosting checker. Select the built files or output folder and confirm that you can use them. The check finds missing local assets and known hosting conflicts without sign-in or publication. It does not run the site. Fix errors before continuing; warnings can require a browser test. Continue to preview retains the files in the same browser for sign-in, valid for 30 minutes.

For charts and research summaries, use the HTML report sharing checklist. It covers private data, accessible charts, and the printed copy.

1. Sign in to Figment with Google. Readers of the published app do not need an account.
2. Upload your files or output folder with index.html at its root. Do not upload a ZIP, framework source, or secrets.
3. Review the unlisted preview. Test links, charts, and mobile layout.
4. Approve the exact version to publish it. Upload alone does not publish.
5. Open the public URL in a signed-out browser before sharing it.

The upload limit is 100 files, 2 MiB per file, and 10 MiB total. Bundle scripts and assets locally. External CDN scripts, service workers, server code, and database hosting are not supported. Browser API requests need an allowed HTTPS origin and a service that permits CORS. Up to eight origins can be allowed per version. Never put private API keys in the files.

Uploading does not require an AI call. Optional Figment AI editing is paid. Storage and hosting limits apply. This file-upload flow is separate from importing a website URL, which creates a passive copy without the source site's scripts or services.

Publish an indexable website through Netlify

Netlify's official add-project guide documents a manual deploy: sign in, open the team's Projects page, select Add new project and Deploy manually, then drag the output folder to the dropzone. Netlify also offers a drag-and-drop page and a Git-connected workflow. This guide uses the manual path because it matches plain files with no build command. The account and team you use may have their own access and deployment controls; review those before upload.

Select site-output, not its parent folder. The folder's top level must contain the homepage file. Netlify's error reference warns that a missing root index.html can produce a successful-looking deploy with a page-not-found result. For the example tree, Netlify's request-chain documentation says /services/ can match services/index.html. That route rule is host behavior, not a reason to assume every host maps folders the same way.

Do not upload until the content owner has approved the final files. A manual upload is a production action: the resulting site can be publicly reachable. The first deploy should use a host-generated URL. Connect a custom domain only after you have checked that URL. Domain and DNS changes are a separate task with risks to existing web and email records.

What must you check on the public URL?

Open the URL that the host reports after the deploy completes. Do not rely on a dashboard label that says "published." First inspect the project's visibility and access settings. Some Netlify projects can start private under a team's default setting, so a working owner preview does not prove visitor access. Open a signed-out private window and visit /, /services/, and /contact/ on the final hostname. Confirm that each route is visible without your account, password, or preview token. Then use the site's own navigation between them. Check the network panel for missing CSS, images, and fonts. Inspect a phone-width view. Activate the contact link, but do not send a test message to an address you do not control. If the link opens a draft addressed to your real inbox, send a message only when you have permission to test delivery.

Record results in a release table:

A local pass does not fill in these cells. We did not perform a public deployment for this example, so there are no public results to report here. The table is for your actual release record. If a route fails, check the uploaded folder depth and link paths before changing the host's routing rules.

What is the way back if the upload is wrong?

Keep the previous output folder or commit before you deploy. Netlify's deploy management documentation describes publishing a prior deploy from its Deploys area. It also explains that a later Git-triggered production deploy can overwrite a rollback on Git-connected sites. On a manual-only site, you can also upload the previous tested folder again. Check the public URL after any rollback; a rollback is not complete just because the dashboard changed.

For future updates, decide who owns the source and the deploy. A manual drop can publish fast, but it does not by itself give you review gates or a source history. If several people will change the site, put the source in Git and choose a host workflow with branch review. GitHub Pages, for example, documents publishing from a branch or a custom workflow; its choices differ from Netlify's manual upload.

To edit an existing website, open the Figment editor and import a separate copy. Choose Your own AI or optional paid Figment AI, review the preview, then approve publication. This imported-site workflow is separate from deploying the generated files described in this guide.

Sources and access date

• Netlify, add a new project, accessed 2026-09-23. Manual folder deployment, output-folder choice, and the private-by-default project setting.
• Netlify, error reference and request chain, accessed 2026-09-23. Root index.html and folder-route checks.
• Netlify, manage deploys, accessed 2026-09-23. Prior-deploy publication and rollback limits.
• GitHub, configure a Pages publishing source, accessed 2026-09-23. Optional Git-based route; not tested here.