Get started with fledge

Fledge is a skill for Claude. A skill is a kind of recipe that Claude follows. This one takes you from nothing to a finished website that's online on your own domain.

You don't need to know how to code. You need to be able to answer questions about your business.

Setting it up takes about 10 minutes. You only do it once.

This guide uses the English menu names in Claude, like Settings. If your Claude is in another language, look for the name that means the same thing. You can switch language by clicking your name in the bottom left and choosing Language.

Claude's menus change now and then. If your screen looks different, look for the closest name.

Choose your path

There are two ways to use fledge. The difference is where the files end up.

Path A: With a folder on your computer

Claude saves every file straight into a folder on your computer. This is the easiest way. It needs a paid Claude account (Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise), and you have to use the Claude app on your computer, not the browser.

Go to step 5A

Path B: Free

Works with a free Claude account. Claude gives you the files along the way, and you save them in your folder yourself. It takes a little longer, but the result is the same.

Go to step 5B

Not sure? Start with path B. You can always switch to path A later. Your files come with you.

Steps 1 to 4 are the same for both paths.

What you need

A Claude account. Free for path B, Pro or higher for path A.
A Mac or Windows computer.
The file fledge.zip, which you got by email when you bought fledge.

Later on you'll also need a free account at Netlify (where your site will live) and the login for your domain, if you have one. Claude helps you with that when you get there.

Step 1 Make a folder for your website

Make a new folder on your desktop and call it My website.

Mac: Right-click an empty spot on the desktop. Choose New Folder. Type My website and press Enter.

Windows: Right-click an empty spot on the desktop. Choose New, then Folder. Type My website and press Enter.

This is where everything will live: your texts, your pictures and the website itself. Don't delete it, and don't move it around once you've started.

Step 2 Save fledge.zip in the folder

Open the email with fledge.
Click fledge.zip to download it. It lands in your Downloads folder.
Open Downloads. On a Mac: open Finder and click Downloads on the left. On Windows: open File Explorer and click Downloads.
Drag fledge.zip into your My website folder.

Don't unzip it. Leave it as a zip file. Now you know exactly where it is when you need it in step 4.

If your computer unzipped it on its own, so you see a folder called fledge instead of a zip file, right-click the folder and choose Compress (Mac) or Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder (Windows). That gives you the zip file back.

Step 3 Get the Claude app and turn on code execution

Go to claude.com/download and download the app for your computer. Install it and log in with your Claude account.

Fledge builds your website with small programs. That needs Claude to be allowed to run code.

Click your name in the bottom left and choose Settings. On a Mac you can also press ⌘ and comma.
Find Capabilities.
Turn on Code execution and file creation.

If you can't find Skills in the next step, this setting is almost always what's missing.

Step 4 Upload fledge

Click Customize in the menu.
Choose Skills.
Click + Add in the top right and choose Upload a skill. The Upload a skill page opens.
Click browse, go to your My website folder and choose fledge.zip. You can also drag the file into the box.
Click Upload. Claude checks the file before it's added.
Check that fledge is listed under Yours and switched on.

Step 5A Start with the folder (path A)

Click New at the top of the menu on the left.
Click + in the bottom left of the box where you type, and choose Add folder. Find My website on your desktop.
Next time you can also pick the folder under Project or folder, just below the box where you type. It's on the list.
Type:
I'd like to make a website for my business. Use fledge.

Now Claude gets going. Everything you make together is saved in the folder on its own.

If Claude asks you to upgrade when you pick the folder, you're on the free account. Use path B instead.

Step 5B Start without a folder (path B)

Start a new chat in the Claude app or on claude.ai.
Type:
I'd like to make a website for my business. Use fledge.

Along the way, Claude gives you files, like site-brief.md and index.html. Each time:

Click the file so it opens. Click the small arrow next to Copy in the top right, and choose Download as …. For site-brief.md it says Download as MD, for index.html Download as HTML.
The file lands in Downloads. Drag it into My website.
If there's already a file with the same name, replace the old one.

site-brief.md is the most important one. It's Claude's notebook and knows how far you've got.

What happens next

Claude asks you questions. One at a time. About who you help, what you sell, what it costs, and why people should pick you. If you already have a website, Claude can read it first and suggest answers, so you only need to correct them. Answer the way you'd answer a colleague. It's fine if it's messy. You can also talk instead of typing, if you use the microphone.

Then Claude writes the texts for your site, and you approve them. The design only comes once the words are right. That's on purpose. A nice-looking site with unclear words doesn't get you clients.

The whole process has 12 steps, from the interview to your site being on Google. Claude always tells you where you are.

Plan for a couple of hours. You don't have to do it in one go. Halfway through the interview Claude takes a break, and everything is saved, so you can carry on another day.

Good to have ready

The address of your current website, if you have one.
A portrait photo of yourself. If you don't have one, you can use placeholder pictures for now, but your site needs your own portrait before it goes live.
Your prices and what your sessions or programmes include.
Testimonials from clients, if you have some and may use them.
The login for your domain, if you have one (at the company you bought it from). Only at the very end.

If you get interrupted

Claude has a limit on how much you can use it at a time. If you hit it, nothing is lost. Wait until it resets, and type "continue" in the same chat.

If the chat has got very long, start a new one:

Path A: Start a new task, pick the My website folder again, and type:

I'm making my website. Use fledge and continue where we left off.

Path B: Start a new chat, click + and choose Upload or add files. Pick site-brief.md from your folder, and type the same.

When you want to change something later

Start a new task (path A: pick the My website folder) or a new chat (path B: attach site-brief.md and index.html).
Type what you want to change. For example "I have new prices."

Your website doesn't change until you put a new version online yourself. So you can't break anything by trying things out.

If something goes wrong

I can't find Skills.: Turn on code execution (step 3) and restart the app.
Uploading the skill fails.: Check that you're uploading fledge.zip and not an unzipped folder. See step 2.
I can't find fledge.zip.: Look in Downloads, or download it again from the email.
Claude asks me to upgrade.: That happens when you pick a folder on the free account. Use path B.
Claude doesn't start fledge.: Write "Use fledge" in your message. Check under Customize > Skills that fledge is switched on.
Claude can't see my folder.: Click + and choose Add folder again, or pick it under Project or folder. You have to pick it every time you start a new task.
I'm stuck.: Write to hello@attabird.com.