Everything you need to ship with confidence.
Setup, edit modes, GitLab restore, image management, and the Claude Code workflow — in one place.
Setup Guide
Get started with GitPage by configuring your GitLab and OpenRouter accounts. This one-time setup takes about 10 minutes.
On this page:
- • Required Setup
- • Detailed Setup Instructions
- • Cloudinary Image Picker (Optional)
- • Site Photos: Higgsfield (Needed for Premium)
- • Hosting Options
- • Quick Start Guide
- • Troubleshooting
- • Add Custom Domain (Optional)
- • Sharing Projects with Editors
- • Additional Resources
Required Setup
To use GitPage, you need to configure two API keys. This is a one-time setup that takes about 10 minutes:
1. GitLab Account & Token
Provides version control and free hosting for your generated landing pages through GitLab Pages. No restrictions on commercial sites!
Required for deployment and hosting
2. OpenRouter API Key
Powers everything AI in GitPage: writing your sites, the editor's chat and edits, and premium builds. One key, and you choose the model.
- • Claude Sonnet 5.5 - The default, very good quality
- • Claude Opus 5.5 - Best quality (always used for premium sites); Haiku 5.5 - lowest cost
- • OpenAI GPT-6.1 Sol and Google Gemini 3.1 Pro / 3.8 Flash - If you prefer them
3. Web3Forms Access Key (Optional)
Enables contact forms on your landing pages. Get a free key at web3forms.com
Optional - for functional contact forms
4. GitPage API Key
Enables programmatic access to create websites via API (optional, only if using API integration).
Optional - for API access only
5. Cloudinary Account (Optional)
Connect Cloudinary to browse and insert images directly from your media library while editing your website. No more copying and pasting image URLs!
Optional - greatly improves the image editing experience
6. Higgsfield Key (Needed for Premium)
AI-generated photography made for your business and an optional hero video, paid from your own Higgsfield credits. Premium sites need it.
Optional for standard sites (default, local business, product, VSL, webinar and directory) — they use AI-picked photos, or Higgsfield images when you opt in per site
Detailed Setup Instructions
Step 1: Git Provider Setup
GitLab Setup
Why GitLab? GitLab Pages has no restrictions on commercial sites, making it ideal for e-commerce, SaaS, or business websites. Plus, you get free CI/CD pipelines included!
Important: Validate Your GitLab Account First!
GitLab requires account validation (email, phone, and sometimes credit card) before CI/CD pipelines can run. Without validation, your website deployment will be blocked and you'll see a red X on your project.
Validate now: GitLab.com → Profile → Settings → Account → Validate your account. This prevents the most common issue users face!
- 1.Log in to GitLab.com (create a free account if needed)
- 2.Click your avatar → Edit Profile → Access Tokens (in left sidebar)
- 3.Click 'Add new token'
- 4.Set the token name (e.g., "GitPage Access")Select these scopes:
- ✓ api (Full API access)
- ✓ read_repository (Read repository contents)
- ✓ write_repository (Write to repository)
Set expiration: Choose "No expiration" or your preferred date - 5.Click 'Create personal access token' and copy it immediately (you won't see it again!)
- 6.In GitPage, go to 'Manage Keys', select "GitLab" as your provider, and paste your token
Step 2: OpenRouter API Key Setup
Why OpenRouter? OpenRouter gives you Claude, GPT and Gemini models with a single API key, so you can switch models any time in Manage Keys without setting up anything new. You pay OpenRouter directly for what you use.
✨ Best Part: GitPage runs all of its AI through OpenRouter, so this is the only AI key you need. Once it's saved and you've picked a model, you're all done!
- 1.Visit openrouter.ai and create a free account
- 2.Sign in and navigate to the API Keys section
- 3.Click 'Create Key' and give it a name (e.g., "GitPage Integration")
- 4.Copy the generated API key (starts with "sk-or-...")
- 5.Add credits to your OpenRouter account (as low as $5 to get started)
- 6.In GitPage, go to 'Manage Keys', paste the key and click "Update API Key"
- 7.Under "AI Model", keep Claude Sonnet 5.5 (the default) or choose another model — see below
Choosing your AI model
One setting in Manage Keys decides which model GitPage uses. You can change it any time; the next site or edit uses the new model.
| Model | Best for | Relative cost |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 (default) | Very good results for everyday sites and edits | Medium |
| Claude Opus 5.5 | The best copy and design; always used for premium sites | Highest |
| Claude Haiku 5.5 | Fast drafts and quick changes | Lowest |
| OpenAI GPT-6.1 Sol | If you prefer OpenAI's writing | Medium |
| Google Gemini 3.1 Pro | If you prefer Google's writing | Medium |
| Google Gemini 3.8 Flash | Fast, low-cost generation | Low |
- • Site generation, the editor's chat and the setup assistant use your model.
- • Page edits use your model, or Claude Sonnet 5.5 when a fast model (Haiku, Gemini Flash) is selected — precise edits need a stronger model.
- • Premium sites always use Claude Opus 5.5, whatever model you choose.
Step 3: Cloudinary Image Picker (Optional)
Why Cloudinary? Without Cloudinary, you need to manually find and paste image URLs every time you want to add or change an image on your website. With Cloudinary connected, you get a visual media library picker built right into the editor — browse, search, and insert images with a single click.
✨ Better UX: Cloudinary also automatically optimizes your images (quality & format) for faster page loads and better Core Web Vitals scores, which helps with SEO.
- 1.Create a free account at cloudinary.com
- 2.After signing in, go to your Cloudinary Console (Dashboard)
- 3.Your Cloud Name is displayed at the top of the Dashboard (e.g., "my-company")
- 4.Navigate to Settings → API Keys in the left sidebar
- 5.Copy your API Key (the numeric key, not the API Secret)
- 6.In GitPage, go to 'Manage Keys' (/otp page), scroll to the Cloudinary (Image Picker) section
- 7.Enter your Cloud Name and API Key, then click "Save Cloudinary"
✓ Once connected, you'll see an image picker button in the website editor!
Upload images to your Cloudinary Media Library, then browse and insert them directly while editing your website — no more hunting for image URLs.
💡 Free Tier: Cloudinary's free plan includes 25 credits/month which covers ~25 GB of storage or ~25 GB of bandwidth — more than enough for most landing pages and small business sites.
Step 4: Site Photos with Higgsfield (Needed for Premium)
✨ Unlocks premium: Premium sites are built with AI-generated photography made for your business (plus an optional hero video), so they need a Higgsfield key. Without it, premium stays locked.
Standard sites (default, local business, product, VSL, webinar and directory): they use AI-picked photos. With a Higgsfield key you can opt in per site ("Generate images for this site with Higgsfield?"), and each blog post gets a header image.
- 1.Go to console.higgsfield.ai and sign in (the API uses a pay-as-you-go balance, separate from a higgsfield.ai plan)
- 2.Add credits and create an API key — you get a Key ID and a Key Secret
- 3.In GitPage, go to 'Manage Keys' (/otp page) and find the Higgsfield (AI Images) card
- 4.Paste the Key ID and Key Secret (or the whole "id:secret" value — it is split for you) and click Save Higgsfield
✓ Premium sites are unlocked
Images are paid from your own Higgsfield credits (about $0.006 per image, six to ten per premium site). If a photo stops loading, the site shows a designed panel in its own brand colours instead of a broken or random image.
Step 5: GitPage API Key (Optional)
Only needed if you want to use our API for programmatic website generation.
- 1.Sign in to your GitPage account
- 2.Go to your Dashboard
- 3.Scroll to the "API Access" section
- 4.Click "Generate API Key" and copy it securely
Hosting Options & Restrictions
✨ Recommended: GitLab Pages (No Restrictions)
GitLab Pages has no restrictions on commercial websites. You can freely build e-commerce sites, SaaS platforms, business websites, and any commercial project without worrying about terms of service violations.
💡 Alternative Hosting Options
Good news! You own the complete source code generated by GitPage. You can also deploy your GitLab repository to other commercial hosting platforms if needed:
These platforms offer direct GitLab integration, making deployment as simple as connecting your repository.
Quick Start Guide
Follow these steps for the simplest and most reliable setup experience.
- 1.Create a GitLab account and generate an access token (Step 1 above)
- 2.Create an OpenRouter account and get your API key (Step 2 above)
- 3.Sign in to your GitPage account
- 4.Go to 'Manage Keys' and enter your GitLab token and OpenRouter API key. Add a Higgsfield key (Step 4 above) if you want premium sites, the first tab in the builder — they need it for their AI-generated photography
- 5.Go to the main page and enter your website requirements in the text area
- 6.Click submit and wait 1-3 minutes for your website to be generated
- 7.View your new website in 'My Sites' and get your live URL
Troubleshooting
GitLab: 404 Error & Red X on Project (Most Common Issue)
Symptoms:
- •Your GitLab project shows a red X icon next to it
- •Your website URL returns a 404 Not Found error
- •The pipeline shows as "failed" or "blocked"
🔑 Root Cause: GitLab Account Not Validated
GitLab requires account validation before allowing CI/CD pipelines to run. Without validation, your GitLab Pages deployment pipeline is blocked, which means your website cannot be deployed—even though the files were created successfully.
GitLab requires verification of email, phone number, and in some cases a credit/debit card to prevent abuse of their free CI/CD minutes.
✅ How to Fix:
- 1.Go to your GitLab project (click the project link in 'My Sites')
- 2.Click on "Build" → "Pipelines" in the left sidebar
- 3.You will see a yellow/orange banner at the top saying your pipeline is blocked and prompting you to validate your account
- 4.Click the "Validate your account" or "Get validation credit" link in the banner
- 5.Complete the verification process (email, phone, and/or credit card)
- 6.Return to your project's Pipelines page
- 7.Click "Run pipeline" (blue button) or wait for the next commit
- 8.Your website should be live within 1-2 minutes!
💡 Pro Tip:
Validate your GitLab account before creating your first website to avoid this issue entirely. Go to GitLab.com → Settings → Account → Validation to complete verification proactively.
Other GitLab Issues
Pipeline passed but site still shows 404?
- →Wait 5-10 minutes for GitLab Pages to deploy (CDN propagation can take time)
- →Check your project visibility: Settings → General → Visibility → ensure "Pages" is set to "Everyone"
- →Verify the "public" folder was created by the pipeline (check the job logs)
- →Try clearing your browser cache or use incognito mode
Pipeline shows "pending" for a long time?
- →This usually means your account needs validation (see above)
- →Check if GitLab Shared Runners are enabled: Settings → CI/CD → Runners → Enable shared runners
- →You may have used all your free CI/CD minutes for the month (400 min/month for free accounts)
GitLab Pages URL format?
- →Your site URL will be:
https://USERNAME.gitlab.io/PROJECT-NAME - →If your project is named
USERNAME.gitlab.io, the URL will be justhttps://USERNAME.gitlab.io
How to check pipeline status?
- →In GitLab: Go to your project → Build → Pipelines
- →Green checkmark ✓ = Success (site should be live)
- →Red X ✗ = Failed (click to see error details)
- →Yellow/Orange = Pending or blocked (usually needs validation)
General Issues
Website not generating?
- →Verify GitLab/GitHub token is correctly entered in Manage Keys
- →Confirm OpenRouter API key is valid and has credits
- →Check that GitLab token has 'api', 'read_repository', and 'write_repository' scopes
- →Allow up to 3 minutes for site generation
API keys expired or invalid?
- →Regenerate your GitLab/GitHub token and update in Manage Keys
- →Check OpenRouter account balance and add more credits if needed
- →Ensure no extra spaces when copying/pasting API keys
Website deployed but links broken?
- →Check GitLab/GitHub Pages is enabled for your repository
- →Wait a few minutes for GitLab/GitHub Pages deployment to complete
- →See Navigation Link Fix Guide below for policy/terms pages
Still having issues?
Contact our support team using the chat widget. We typically respond within a few hours during business days.
Editing Your Website
GitPage now includes a powerful visual editor that allows you to customize your website without touching code. Here's how to use it:
1. Access the Editor
- →Go to 'My Sites' from your dashboard
- →Find the website you want to edit
- →Click the 'Edit' button next to your site
- →The edit modal will open with all customization options
2. What You Can Edit
Content
- • Page heading and hero statement
- • Features and benefits
- • Contact email and CTA link
- • FAQ section content
Design
- • Color palette (Vibrant, Calm, Dark, Warm)
- • Typography style (Modern, Classic, Bold, Minimal)
- • Layout structure (Spacious, Compact, Grid, Asymmetric)
- • Component style (Rounded, Sharp, Glass, Neumorphic)
- • Button styling and animations
- • Icon library selection
Settings
- • Page style (Informational, Creative, Minimal)
- • Color scheme (Standard or Dark Mode)
- • Language preference
- • Include/exclude FAQ section
3. Making Changes
- 1.Update any fields you want to change in the modal
- 2.Use the design system tabs to customize colors, fonts, and layout
- 3.Click 'Save Changes' or 'Update Website' button
- 4.Wait 1-3 minutes for the AI to regenerate your site
- 5.Refresh your site URL to see the changes live
💡 Pro Tips:
- →Changes are regenerated by AI, so updates may take a few minutes
- →Your original site remains live until the update completes
- →You can make unlimited edits to refine your website
- →Experiment with different design systems to find the perfect look
✨ No Code Required!
The edit modal provides a user-friendly interface for all customizations. You don't need to know HTML, CSS, or any programming to create a beautiful, professional website.
Step 6: Add Custom Domain (Optional)
Connect your own domain name to your GitLab Pages website for a professional branded web address.
GitLab Pages Custom Domain Setup
Before you start: Purchase a domain from a registrar like Namecheap, GoDaddy, Google Domains, or Cloudflare. You'll need access to your domain's DNS settings.
Part 1: Add Domain in GitLab
- 1.Go to your GitLab project (the one GitPage created)
- 2.Navigate to Settings → Pages (or Deploy → Pages)
- 3.Click "New Domain"
- 4.Enter your domain name (e.g.,
www.example.comorexample.com) - 5.Click "Create New Domain"
- 6.GitLab will show you the DNS records you need to add - keep this page open!
Part 2: Configure DNS Records
Add these DNS records in your domain registrar's control panel:
For Apex Domain (example.com):
For Subdomain (www.example.com):
For Domain Verification (TXT Record):
Part 3: Enable HTTPS
- 1.Wait for DNS to propagate (usually 1-2 hours, up to 48 hours)
- 2.Return to GitLab project → Settings → Pages
- 3.Find your domain in the list and click "Details"
- 4.If verification status shows ✓ Verified, you can enable automatic HTTPS certificate
- 5.GitLab will automatically provision a Let's Encrypt SSL certificate
✓ All Done!
Your website should now be accessible at your custom domain with HTTPS enabled. DNS changes can take up to 48 hours to propagate worldwide.
💡 Pro Tip: GitLab Pages supports wildcard domains and multiple custom domains per project. You can add both apex and www versions of your domain.
Troubleshooting: If verification fails, double-check your TXT record is correct. If HTTPS doesn't work, ensure your DNS records point correctly to GitLab Pages.
Common Custom Domain Issues
Domain not resolving?
- →DNS changes can take up to 48 hours to propagate
- →Verify DNS records are correct using a DNS checker tool
- →Clear your browser cache and try incognito mode
HTTPS not working?
- →Wait 24 hours after DNS propagation for SSL certificate provisioning
- →Ensure "Enforce HTTPS" is checked in GitHub Pages settings
- →For GitLab, verify your domain is showing as verified
Need help?
Check GitHub Pages Custom Domain Docs or GitLab Pages Custom Domain Docs
Sharing Projects with Editors
Invite another GitPage user (e.g. a client, teammate, or contractor) to edit one of your projects. They get access only to the project you share — your other sites, billing, API keys, and account settings stay private.
Designed for agencies and teams
An agency owner can build a site, then hand editing access to the client without sharing logins, paying for an extra seat, or giving the client their GitHub/AI tokens. The client signs in with their own email, makes changes, and publishes — using your GitLab token behind the scenes.
How to invite an editor
- Open My Sites and find the project you want to share. It must be in Published status.
- In the Actions column on that row, click the Share icon (the people icon).
- Enter the editor's email address and click Invite.
- They receive an email with a link to
gitpage.site/myqueries?scope=shared. - When they sign in (Google or magic-link, both work), the project appears under their Shared with Me tab.
What an editor can do
✓ Editors can
- • View the shared project in Shared with Me
- • Open the editor and change content
- • Use AI Agent, Ask, and Inline Edit modes
- • Save drafts and publish to your repo
- • Restore previous versions
- • Create their own separate sites in their own account
✗ Editors cannot
- • Change the project's tag or hide it
- • Toggle the GitHub Pages deployment switch
- • Duplicate or delete the shared project
- • Invite further collaborators
- • See your other sites or settings
- • Access your GitHub or API keys
Your tokens, their edits
When an editor saves or publishes a shared project, GitPage uses your GitHub/GitLab token to push changes (because it's your repo). The editor never needs a GitHub or GitLab token, and manual edits or edits through Claude with the GitPage connector need no keys at all. The in-app AI modes (Agent, Ask, Inline Edit) run on the editor's own OpenRouter key.
Your agency's clients (LeadStack)
On a site LeadStack built for one of your clients, the client's editors can do more, because they bought the website service through you. They can set up a custom domain and save the site as a template only that client builds from. The in-app AI modes run on your AI key (when you have one), so they need no keys of their own. New sites are built in LeadStack, which holds each client's site limit, so duplicating, sharing, hiding, tags and the deployment switch stay with you.
Inviting someone who already has a GitPage account
Existing accounts work the same way. Their billing, API keys, and own projects stay untouched — the shared project simply appears in their Shared with Me tab alongside their own work. The invite email is automatically reworded to say "sign in to access" instead of "sign up".
Managing access
- To revoke a single editor from one project, click Share on that row again and click the × next to their email.
- To revoke an editor from every project they have access to (e.g. when a client engagement ends), open the Dashboard and use the Shared Access section's Revoke all button.
- Access takes effect immediately — when you remove someone, their next page load no longer shows the project.
Tabs on My Sites
- All — projects you own plus projects shared with you (default).
- My Sites — only projects you own.
- Shared with Me — only projects others have invited you to edit. Useful for previewing what your client sees.
Additional Resources
Note for Existing Users (Legacy Services)
GitHub Users: If you set up your site using GitHub before January 2025, your existing sites continue to work. New sites use GitLab.
Direct API Key Users: GitPage no longer uses your own Anthropic, OpenAI or Gemini keys. If your account still has them, you'll see a notice when you sign in: add an OpenRouter key in Manage Keys within 14 days (the notice shows your date). After that, generating and editing sites needs an OpenRouter key. Accounts that build through the GitPage API keep their current keys for now.
New users should follow the GitLab + OpenRouter setup described above for the best experience.