Editing your website with Claude Code

If you have a custom code website, the easiest way to build it is the in-browser AI builder — no installs, no terminal. This page covers the optional advanced path: editing that same site on your own computer with an AI coding tool like Claude Code, using the tribenest command-line tool (CLI).

It's the most powerful way to work on your site: you get the real project files, a live local preview, your own editor and tools, and an AI assistant that knows your actual content, media, and products. When you're done, one command builds and publishes it. It's the exact same site and versions as the in-browser builder — just a different way in.

Before you start

You'll need three things:

1. A custom code website. Your active website version must be a Custom code site (that's the label shown on the version in your dashboard). If you're on a themed (visual-editor) site, this workflow doesn't apply — use the visual editor.
2. Node.js 20.19 or newer (we recommend Node 24). If you don't have it yet, follow Installing Node.js just below — there are copy-paste steps for both Mac and Windows.
3. Claude Code installed on your computer. Get it from Anthropic. (Cursor or another agent that supports MCP works too.)

Installing Node.js

Node.js is the free tool that runs the tribenest CLI and builds your site on your own computer. You only install it once. We use a version manager called nvm, which lets you install exactly the version we recommend — Node 24 — without it clashing with anything else on your machine.

Pick your operating system below, then paste each block into your terminal and press Enter. Run the blocks in order.

Mac

1. Install Apple's command line developer tools (skip this if you already have them). Run the command below — if a popup appears, click Install and wait for it to finish:

xcode-select --install

2. Install nvm and load it into your terminal:

touch ~/.zshrc ~/.bashrc
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.1/install.sh | bash
for f in ~/.zshrc ~/.bashrc; do
  grep -q 'NVM_DIR' "$f" || printf '\nexport NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"\n[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && . "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"\n' >> "$f"
done
export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && . "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"

3. Install Node 24 and make it your default:

nvm install 24
nvm alias default 24

4. Confirm it worked:

node --version

You should see a version starting with v24.

Windows

1. Install nvm for Windows. Open PowerShell (Start menu → type PowerShell → open it) and run:

winget install CoreyButler.NVMforWindows

2. Close PowerShell, then reopen it as administrator — right-click PowerShell in the Start menu and choose Run as administrator. nvm needs this to switch between Node versions. Now install Node 24 and switch to it:

nvm install 24
nvm use 24

3. Confirm it worked:

node --version

You should see a version starting with v24.

With Node 24 installed, you're ready for the rest of the guide.

Step 1 — Install the CLI

Everything in this guide happens in a terminal — a plain text window where you type commands and press Enter to run them. You have one built in already:

With the terminal open, install the tool globally by pasting this and pressing Enter:

npm i -g tribenest

Confirm it worked:

tribenest --version

You should see a version number. The command is called tribenest.

Step 2 — Log in

tribenest login

This opens your browser to TribeNest, where you approve the login with your normal account. When you see "✓ Authorized", return to your terminal — you're logged in. Your access token is saved locally (in ~/.tribenest) so you only do this once per computer.

Step 3 — Clone your website

"Cloning" downloads your site's files to a folder on your computer:

tribenest clone

The CLI will:

1. Ask which profile to use (if you have more than one).
2. Ask which custom code website to work on (if you have more than one).
3. Create a folder named after your site (for example mysite_v2) and download everything into it, including your project files and the setup Claude Code needs.

To clone straight into the current folder instead of a new one, run tribenest clone ..

Step 4 — Preview it locally

From inside the cloned folder, start a live preview:

cd mysite_v2       # the folder tribenest created
tribenest dev

This runs your site on your machine and prints a local address (something like http://localhost:3002). Open it in your browser — it updates instantly as you and Claude Code make changes.

Step 5 — Edit with Claude Code

Open the Claude Code desktop app and point it at your cloned folder:

1. Launch Claude Code (the desktop app on Mac or Windows).
2. Click Open project (or Open folder) on the welcome screen.
3. In the file picker, navigate to the folder tribenest clone created in Step 3 — it's named after your site, for example mysite_v2 — select it, and open it.

Once the folder is open, just describe what you want. Because the folder includes the .mcp.json, Claude Code can use TribeNest's tools to work with your real site — not guesses. It can:

• See and use your uploaded media — real image and video URLs from your library.
• Add new media from a link or file.
• Read and change your editable text and images — copy that updates instantly, with no rebuild.
• Look up real product, event, and course IDs so buttons and lists point at the right thing.
• Create an event with ticket tiers in one step (great for migrating an event from somewhere else).
• Check for errors before you publish.

For example, you can say things like:

• "Change the homepage headline to 'Live in Lagos this August' and publish that text."
• "Add a tour section that lists my upcoming events."
• "Use my logo from the media library as the header image."

Claude Code edits the project files (and your live tribenest dev preview updates), or changes content directly through the tools.

Step 6 — Publish

When you're happy, publish your changes live:

tribenest publish

This builds your site on your machine, and only if the build succeeds does it upload and deploy it to production. Your live site updates when it finishes.

Keeping in sync

If you edit from more than one place (say, you also changed something in the dashboard), pull the latest before you keep working:

tribenest pull

This refreshes your folder with the newest files. If you have unsaved local changes it would overwrite, it stops and warns you first — save them with tribenest push, or run tribenest pull --force to overwrite.

To save your local file changes back to TribeNest without publishing:

tribenest push

Command cheat sheet

Editing by chat (no install)

Don't want to install anything? You can connect TribeNest directly to Claude or ChatGPT and edit your site by chatting — no terminal, no CLI. Add TribeNest as a custom connector in your assistant's settings, approve the profile you want it to manage, and ask away. Changes to text and images go live instantly.

What chat editing can do:

• Change copy and images that are already set up as editable on your site.
• Upload media and use it on the site.
• Add events (with ticket tiers) and look up your real products, events, and courses.

So chat editing is the easiest path for non-technical creators making routine updates; the CLI + Claude Code workflow is for building, restructuring, and full control over the code.

Troubleshooting

• tribenest: command not found — the install didn't finish or isn't on your PATH. Re-run npm i -g tribenest, then open a new terminal window.
• The CLI errors about an unsupported Node version — install Node 24 with Installing Node.js.
• Publish fails to build — the error names the file and line. Ask Claude Code to fix it, then publish again. Nothing goes live until the build is clean.
• You cloned the wrong version — just run tribenest clone again in a different folder and pick the right one.