For the new owner

Move an Astro site onto your own GitHub and Netlify

Send this page to an AI agent, or to a person you hire. You open the accounts. They put the existing site on a free address first. The domain name moves last.

← Tech · First GitHub account · Astro build settings · Domain name transfer

Paste this into a new chat. ChatGPT, Claude, or Grok is enough. The chat walks you one step at a time. You stay at the computer for the logins.

You are helping me move an existing Astro website onto my own GitHub account and my own Netlify account. I am not a developer. Do one step, then wait for me.

Read this page if you can open links:
https://mikesblogdesign.com/astrohandover

Rules:
- Use only the domain name I type in this chat. If I have not typed one, ask. Do not guess, and do not look up a company.
- Do not change DNS until I have opened the something.netlify.app address and told you it looks right.
- Do not put passwords, API keys, or .env values in git, in a commit, or in your reply. If I paste a secret here, tell me to delete that message and type the value only into Netlify's environment screen.
- Keep the new GitHub repo private.
- Do not delete the old site.

Step 1. Tell me to create a GitHub account at https://github.com/join and a Netlify account at https://app.netlify.com/signup, and to sign Netlify in with GitHub. Wait until I say both exist.

Step 2. Ask me for the project zip from the person who has the site now. Unzip it. If it is not an Astro project (no astro dependency in package.json), stop and say so. Delete node_modules and dist if they are in the zip. If you find a .env file or anything that looks like a live key, stop and tell me. Do not commit it.

Step 3. Create a new private repository under my GitHub user. Push this project there. Do not fork someone else's repo.

Step 4. Connect that repo to a new Netlify site. Build command is the build script in package.json, usually npm run build. Publish directory is dist when the site is static. If package.json includes @astrojs/netlify, or astro.config sets a server adapter, stop and explain that before you change Netlify settings. Set NODE_VERSION from .nvmrc, .node-version, or package.json engines. If none of those exist, use the Node version Astro's current docs require. Do not assume Node 18.

Step 5. List environment variable names the code reads (import.meta.env, process.env) and any names in .env.example. Ask me to type the values into Netlify's UI. You do not invent values.

Step 6. Give me the *.netlify.app URL. Ask me to compare the homepage, one inner page, images, and any form against the current site. Check that netlify.toml and public/_redirects came over. Check images in public/. If the old site used Netlify Forms, say that form email notifications do not move with the files.

Step 7. Only after I say the free URL looks right: tell me how to add my domain in Netlify and point DNS. Use https://docs.netlify.com/manage/domains/add-or-change-domain/ . Leave the old host up until the domain answers on the new site. Then I can add the site in Google Search Console and submit the sitemap. Search Console cannot edit the site.

Step 8. After that, a change is a sentence to you, a commit on my repo, and a Netlify rebuild. Wait for me before each of these steps.

Three things move, in this order

The code. A private GitHub repository in your account. That repository is the site.
The host. A Netlify site that builds from your repository. The first address looks like something.netlify.app.
The name. DNS for your domain, after the free address looks right.

Google Search Console is a fourth thing. It shows you who visits. Editing the pages happens in GitHub, and Netlify publishes the result.

What you need from the person who has the site now

A zip of the project. A fresh private repository is the clean handoff.
The names of any settings the site needs, on a separate note. The values go into Netlify’s screen, typed by you.
A note if the site sends form email, or runs a function that is not in the zip.

A zip is enough. Their Netlify login stays with them, and the new repository is created under your GitHub user.

Clicks only you can do

Create a GitHub account: github.com/join.
Create a Netlify account and sign in with GitHub: app.netlify.com/signup.
Know the login for your domain name, when you are ready for that step. The files can go live before the name does.
Stay at the computer when the agent asks you to approve a login, a private repository, or a DNS change.

First-time GitHub Desktop clicks are on the GitHub and Netlify starter. This page assumes the project is already Astro.

Order of work

Your two accounts exist, and Netlify is signed in with GitHub.
The zip is an Astro project. node_modules and dist stay out of git. A .env file or a live key stops the job.
A new private repository under your GitHub user. The agent pushes the project there.
Netlify builds that repository. The build command is the build script in package.json, usually npm run build. A static Astro site publishes dist.
Node version comes from .nvmrc, .node-version, or engines in package.json. Netlify calls that setting NODE_VERSION. If the repo names none, use the version in Astro’s current docs.
You type any secret values into Netlify → Site configuration → Environment variables. The agent lists the names. It does not invent the values.
You open the *.netlify.app URL next to the current site. Homepage, one inner page, images, and any form.
Then the domain. Add it in Netlify, then point DNS. Netlify’s steps: add or change a domain. The old host stays up until your domain answers on the new site.
Search Console gets a property for the new site, and the sitemap is submitted, after the name points at Netlify.

If package.json includes @astrojs/netlify, or astro.config sets a server adapter, the publish folder may be different. The agent stops and explains that before it changes the Netlify settings.

What usually breaks on the first build

Images that lived in public/ and were left out of the zip.
Redirects in netlify.toml or public/_redirects.
Form email. Netlify Forms on the old site do not follow the files. Notifications get set up again on the new site.
Analytics IDs and other environment values that were typed into the old host and never saved in the repo.
The wrong Node version. An older note on /astro6 pins Node 18 from December 2025. Use the version this repository asks for.

The free URL is the place to find these. The domain name waits until that URL looks like the site you have now.

After you own it

A change is a sentence to the agent, a commit on your repository, and a Netlify rebuild. The repository stays private unless you decide otherwise. The old copy comes down only after your domain is serving the new site.

What this page leaves alone

Search Console access, by itself, cannot update the Astro site.
Moving the domain registration to a new registrar is a separate checklist. Pointing DNS at Netlify can happen while the registration stays where it is.
WordPress, a folder of HTML, or a site that is not Astro yet is a different job. The agent should stop when the zip is not an Astro project.

GitHub, GitHub Desktop, and a first Netlify deploy — account setup, before this handover.
Deploy Astro to Netlify — build command, dist, and the Node setting. Read the repo’s own version pin over the 2025 example.
Custom 404 on Netlify — the error page, once the site is yours.
Domain transfer — when the domain name itself is changing registrars.