Module 7 · Back it up

GitHub: a private backup of your site

Stage 6 of the kit. Your site is built, audited and compliance-checked, and right now it lives only on your laptop. By the end of this lesson it will also live on GitHub, in a private repository under your own account, with every version you have saved. That copy is also what the next module publishes from.

What GitHub is, in plain terms

GitHub is online storage built for projects like this one. Two things make it different from a folder in Dropbox. First, it keeps every saved version of your site, not just the latest, so “put the fees page back the way it was on Tuesday” is a request Claude can actually carry out. Second, the hosting service in Module 8 watches your GitHub copy and republishes the live site whenever it changes.

Two words you’ll see. A repository, or “repo,” is GitHub’s name for one project’s folder plus its history; you’ll have exactly one. A commit is one saved snapshot of the folder with a short note about what changed. You’ve been making snapshots since Module 1; those are commits.

Private, and why

A repository can be public or private. Yours is private. Not because it holds anything about a client. It doesn’t, and it never should. It’s private because it’s your work: drafts of copy you rewrote before publishing, fee wording you were still deciding on, notes in practice-profile.md and site-map.md. The history keeps every draft, even after you change it. None of that needs to be public for anything in this course to work. Private is free and it’s one setting.

First, a free GitHub account

1. Go to github.com and sign up. The free account includes private repositories, which is all this course needs.
2. Use an email address your practice will keep. This account controls your website’s files, so treat it like your domain name: not an old personal address you might abandon.
3. Turn on two-factor sign-in when GitHub offers it. It takes a minute and protects the account behind your public website.

Then paste this into Claude

Claude does the technical half by following the kit’s deploy skill. The one part that needs you is a sign-in in your browser, and the prompt asks Claude to walk you through it.

Let's do Stage 6 and back my project up to GitHub. Please follow the deploy skill, part one:

1. Connect this computer to my GitHub account. If the GitHub CLI (gh) isn't installed, install it,
   then run "gh auth login" and walk me through it one step at a time. Tell me exactly what to
   click and what I should see on screen.
2. Check .gitignore so .env.local, node_modules and other junk are never uploaded, and tell me
   plainly what it excludes.
3. Save a snapshot of my work, create a NEW PRIVATE repository named after my practice, and
   push everything to it.
4. Give me the link, and tell me where on the page to confirm it says Private.

I'm not technical, so do the technical parts and keep the explanations plain.

What to check in Claude’s reply: it says the repository is private, it names what .gitignore leaves out (look for .env.local in that list), and it gives you a link that starts https://github.com/. If any of the three is missing, ask for it before you move on.

What happens on your screen

1. Claude installs the GitHub command-line tool and starts the sign-in. Approve it if your computer asks.
2. A short one-time code appears, something like AB12-CD34, and a browser tab opens asking for it.
3. Paste the code and approve the connection. GitHub’s button wording changes from time to time, so check what your screen says and choose the option that authorizes the GitHub CLI. You do this once on this computer.
4. Claude creates the repository, uploads everything, and gives you the link.

Check it yourself

Open the link and confirm three things with your own eyes:

• The word Private appears next to the repository name. If it says Public, tell Claude: “Make this repository private.”
• Your files are listed: the site’s folders, your images, and your .md planning files.
• There’s a commit count near the top. Click it to read every snapshot in order, each with its note.

Watch this step

GitHub in six minutes. Stop once the concepts are covered; the second half connects GitHub to code editors this course does not use. When she creates a repository, notice the public or private choice: yours is private. It’s from an independent creator — credited below, so go give them a follow.

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