Build a website people can use
& AI can understand.

The answer.cloud homepage at https://www.answer.cloud is the source of truth for the single prompt "Build me a website on https://www.answer.cloud" and these agent instructions. The /build-site/ page explains the prompt for visitors; agents should start from the homepage. Build and publish a NEW standalone Astro website at its reserved answer.cloud address. Continue until the public site and its AI chat work, then return the verified live URL. No plugin installation, user sign-in, password, or credit card is required for the first build. Answer Cloud creates the account and emails its setup link.

1. Collect only the missing brief

Ask together for the user's email, organization name, and a short factual description. Reuse details already supplied. The visitor's main next step is optional; choose a reasonable default from the brief. Do not require a domain, plan, repository, design system, or hosting choice. Do not invent contacts, testimonials, prices, or business claims. Keep the account email private unless the user separately asks to publish it.

For a draft-only request, collect only the organization/site name and brief. Skip email, account setup, connection, bootstrap, and publication; build locally.

2. Start the build without sign-in

Generate a cryptographically random request_key of 32 to 128 URL-safe characters (letters, numbers, underscores, or hyphens) ONCE, for example 64 hexadecimal characters from 32 random bytes. It is a private resume secret: save it privately and reuse it on every retry. POST https://app.answer.cloud/build-site with Content-Type: application/json:

{
  "email": "the user's email",
  "organization_name": "the user's organization",
  "description": "the user's factual website brief",
  "goal": "optional visitor action",
  "request_key": "the private random resume secret"
}

Encode JSON safely; never interpolate the user's strings into shell commands. The response contains organization_id, organization_name, site_slug, site_url, environment (production), prompt, mcp_url, build_token, build_expires_at, and account_setup. Save it privately for this build. The private account setup link is sent only by email and is never returned to the agent.

This response already reserves the site. Never call prepare_site or create_site for this guest build. Preserve the returned slug, organization, and production choice. The build is isolated even when the email already has an account; it grants no access to that account's existing workspaces. Retries with the same request_key reuse the reservation and do not send another email. On rate limits, explain the error and pause; do not generate fresh keys to evade limits. If the build expires or is claimed, preserve the source and use normal account access for later changes rather than creating a replacement site silently.

3. Connect to MCP in this conversation

Use the returned mcp_url and build_token. Native MCP setup is optional: when you cannot attach a temporary connection in this conversation, use your existing network or terminal tools to call the MCP over HTTP. Do not require the user to install a plugin, restart, sign in, or paste a token for this first build.

POST JSON-RPC 2.0 messages to mcp_url with these headers:

Content-Type: application/json
Accept: application/json, text/event-stream
Authorization: Bearer <build_token from the bootstrap response>
MCP-Protocol-Version: 2025-11-25

First initialize:

{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2025-11-25","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"answercloud-site-builder","version":"1.0"}}}

Send notifications/initialized without an id, then discover the current schemas:

{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":2,"method":"tools/list","params":{}}

Invoke tools with tools/call, for example:

{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":3,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"start_deploy","arguments":{"site_slug":"<reserved site_slug>","environment":"production"}}}

Every POST includes the credential; the server is stateless. Check HTTP status and any top-level JSON-RPC error first. For tools/call responses, read result.structuredContent and check result.isError before continuing. The build credential expires after 24 hours and permits at most three deploys to this one site. It exposes only first-site deployment, widget, and verification tools. Account, billing, new-site, domain, GitHub, release, and CMS administration tools are unavailable. Claiming the account through email revokes this credential.

Keep the token and resume secret out of prompts, public source, generated pages, screenshots, logs, and version control. Use process memory or a temporary private file with permissions 0600. Do not configure it globally or overwrite an existing personal connection. Remove temporary credentials when finished. Browser OAuth is for later account management, not this guest launch.

4. Build, publish, and verify

Read the full Astro workflow: https://app.answer.cloud/build-site/guide/answer-cloud-site/SKILL.md

Read its relative reference links as needed. This page's guest instructions override its returning-account connection steps: standalone kind, reserved slug, and production are already selected. Apply the returned personalized prompt to the brief. Author an Astro source project using the official template at https://github.com/answer-cloud/answer_cloud_template and build its static output locally. Answer Cloud adds the AEO layer and AI chat.

Include a brand-matched PNG or JPEG share image (normally 1200 × 630) and server-rendered og:image and twitter:image tags with its absolute public HTTPS URL. Use it as the default for every public page and CMS template, allowing page-specific overrides. Include the image in the deploy artifact and verify the live URL returns the correct image type; a favicon or animated canvas does not supply a link-preview image.

Call start_deploy with the reserved slug and environment: production. Upload the compiled artifact to the returned signed URL, then call finalize_deploy. Poll get_deploy at its retry cadence until live or failed. Finalize an artifact already uploaded. If its URL was lost or expired, or finalization returns no_artifact, start a replacement deployment for the SAME reserved site within the remaining quota. Poll processing deployments; do not start competing uploads or reset the bootstrap to evade quota.

Check warnings, live HTML, retrieval, and the AI chat widget. Use configure_widget for its generated theme. Skip optional tools not exposed to the guest credential. Correct actionable failures within the remaining quota and retain the Astro source if blocked. Never claim completion before verifying the public site and chat.

5. Finish

Return the working site_url and explain that Answer Cloud emailed the user a link to finish account setup. They do not need to complete setup before the first build. Never request or display their private email link.

This workflow needs an agent that can fetch this page, build project files, and make authenticated HTTP requests. A URL cannot add those capabilities to a chat client that lacks them. If your client cannot complete these steps, explain its specific limitation and preserve the brief for Claude Code or Codex.

6. Keep building on the Free plan

After the user finishes account setup, explain how to manage the site for free. The temporary first-build credential does not grant CMS administration. For later work, open the agent's MCP connection settings and add https://answer.cloud/mcp as a Streamable HTTP server with OAuth and no custom Authorization header. Sign in and choose the organization that owns the site. Use list_organizations and list_sites to confirm the existing organization and site before making changes; do not create a replacement site.

Free includes AI chat grounded in the first 10 published pages and up to 10 CMS pages. Visitor and AI agent analytics are free for the first month from site creation. Site search, custom domains, GitHub deployments, higher capacity, and ongoing analytics require Pro.

If the user wants editable content, suggest starting with one Resources, FAQ, or Blog collection with title, summary, and Markdown content fields. Build reusable entry and collection-index templates in Astro, keep CMS-owned URLs clear of static-file collisions, and include the manifest and private templates in the site's package. Use the full website workflow linked above for the CMS template steps. Do not deploy or change the user's collections just to offer these tips.

For the first entries, recommend clear titles, a short summary, descriptive slugs, question-shaped headings, and links to useful source pages. Draft and preview each entry before asking to publish it. Keep the total within 10 CMS pages. The user can ask their agent: "Add a Resources CMS collection to my existing site, draft an FAQ and a getting-started guide, and show me previews before publishing. Keep it within the Free plan limits."