Skills / Start a website
Start a website
Figure out what site to make, then kick it off. Shapes a vague idea into something buildable and hands to build-website. Use when they say "I want a website" but do not yet know what it is for.
Use this skill. Nothing to install.
Don't have an agent? · Raw file: skills/start-a-website.md
Watch the first two minutes
This is how a session goes when someone wants a website before they know what it is for. Click through it.
Scripted example of a real session.
No idea what the site should be?
That is the right starting point, because the failure mode is a generic site nobody visits. The skill hunts your actual life for things that have no page: the club that organizes over group chat screenshots, the neighbor's business with no web presence, the hobby where you know what people search for. Every candidate has to name a specific visitor, one person who would open the page and get something from it. If nothing surfaces, you browse the idea bank together. Three site shapes people pick:
What you end up with
The choice made and the project started, so build-website inherits momentum instead of a blank folder. End state of the session above:
rosas-tamales/ ├── README.md committed └── index.html first real content, dictated in session README.md # rosas-tamales This site tells Rosa's customers the menu and prices so they can order without messaging her first. Pages: menu (home) · how to order index.html — the paragraph that makes it started, not just named "Tamales made every Friday. Pork, chicken, rajas con queso. By the dozen or half dozen. Order by Wednesday for Friday pickup. Message Rosa at rosa@example.com." Homework sent: one message to Rosa asking for the real price list. Skeleton gets built while waiting.
Questions people actually ask
Shouldn't I just make a personal portfolio site?
Only if you have work to show: projects, art, writing, a resume that needs a link. A personal site made from obligation tends to stall, and a site with a real visitor tends to get finished. The skill checks for both and lets you choose.
What if the content belongs to someone else?
Then the homework is one message asking for it, sent during the session, and the skeleton gets built while you wait. The skill will not let a missing price list stop the repo from existing.
What if my idea needs logins or saved data?
Then it is an app wearing a website costume, and the skill says so and routes you to build-web-app instead, with the reason stated.
Do I need to buy a domain?
No. The site goes live at a free URL first. A domain of its own is a later, optional step with its own skill, and nothing here depends on it.
How many pages should it have?
The 1 to 3 pages the one-sentence purpose demands, and no more. If a page does not serve the sentence, it waits.
Where to go from here
Choice made? This chain takes the skeleton to a live link:
Still browsing? More site-shaped ideas:
Curious? Read the full skill — the exact instructions your agent gets
--- name: start-a-website category: start description: Figure out what site to make, then kick it off. Shapes a vague idea into something buildable and hands to build-website. Use when they say "I want a website" but do not yet know what it is for. --- # start-a-website Help someone figure out what website is worth their time before anyone writes a line of HTML. The failure mode is a generic site nobody visits; the fix is a site attached to something real in their life that at least one other person needs. By the end of this session the choice is made, the repo exists, and build-website takes over. ## Find the real site Ask what already exists in their life that has no page: - A club, team, or group they belong to that organizes over group chat screenshots. - A family business or a neighbor's business with no web presence. - A hobby where they know things others search for — a local scene, a game, a craft, a collection. - Themselves, if they have work to show: projects, art, writing, a resume that needs a link. For each candidate, name the visitor: a specific person who would open this page and get something from it. A site with a real visitor beats a personal site made from obligation. If nothing surfaces, browse https://sphinxstack.com/ideas/ with them for site-shaped projects and match one to their answers. ## Scope the pick The person chooses; you pressure-test. For their pick, agree on: - One sentence: this site tells [visitor] [thing] so they can [act]. - The 1–3 pages that sentence demands. No more. - Where the content comes from — them, in this conversation. If the content belongs to someone else (a business owner, a club), the homework is one message asking for it, sent now, and you build the skeleton while waiting. - Get explicit permission before publishing another person or organization's name, photos, contact details, schedule, testimonials, or business claims. Use placeholders until approval arrives, and never publish a minor's routine or private contact information. If they are torn between two, pick the one whose content they can supply today. ## Kick it off 1. Create the repo, named for the site. 2. Write the one-sentence purpose and the page list into the README. 3. Put the first real content — even one paragraph they dictate — into an `index.html` so the project is started, not just named. Then hand to https://sphinxstack.com/skills/build-website/ to take it from skeleton to live URL. If the idea turned out to need logins, saved data, or anything interactive, it is an app: route to https://sphinxstack.com/skills/build-web-app/ instead and say why. ## Done - Purpose, named audience, 1–3 page scope, and content owner recorded - Permission status is explicit for every third-party name, photo, contact, and claim - Repo contains real approved content and a first commit; the correct build skill is named next