Build a website with Claude Code, brief to launch.

Start with a brief, not a prompt

The quality of the output follows the quality of the brief. Before writing any code, write down what the site is for and the rules it must follow.

• Who it's for and the one action each key page should lead to.
• The pages and their purpose, including which search queries each should own.
• Brand rules: type, colour, tone of voice, words to avoid.
• Technical constraints: framework, hosting, performance budget, accessibility level.
• What must stay honest: no invented stats, client logos or testimonials.

Give the project a memory

Claude Code reads a CLAUDE.md file in the repository for project-specific instructions. Put the conventions there once instead of repeating them: how to run the dev server and tests, the design rules, naming, and anything that must never change. Running /init in a project creates a starting version.

Work in small, reviewable steps

Claude Code is fastest when each change is small enough to read and check before the next one starts.

1. Ask for a plan first for anything larger than a single component, and adjust it before any code is written.
2. Build one section or template at a time.
3. After each step, run the type checker and tests and read the diff.
4. Look at the result in a browser at desktop and phone widths, not just in the code.
5. Commit with a message that says why, so the history explains itself.

Verify like it's going to production

Before anything goes live, run the same checks a careful developer would. Claude Code can run most of them for you.

• Type check and lint pass, and unit tests cover any logic such as formatting helpers.
• Screenshots at real widths show no clipped text or sideways scrolling on phones.
• Every page has a unique title and description of a sensible length.
• Links resolve. A crawl of the built site catches broken internal links early.
• A person has read every claim, number and promise on the page.

Ship through Git and Vercel

Push a branch and Vercel builds a preview URL to review on real devices. Merge to main to deploy to production. If something slips through, roll back by promoting the previous deployment.

Where human judgement still matters

AI can write and test the code, but some decisions should stay with a person who knows the business.

• Positioning and what the business actually offers.
• Anything legal: privacy, cookies, terms.
• Claims about results, clients and timelines.
• Final taste calls on design and copy.