--- title: 'Build a plain website — no database' description: 'The site profile — a designed, SEO-wired Next.js website with no database, no login and nothing to configure. Scaffold, edit files, build, deploy.' canonical: 'https://cartwright.app/docs/getting-started/plain-website' --- # Build a plain website — no database (/docs/getting-started/plain-website) ## The one-line version [#the-one-line-version] ```bash npx create-cartwright@latest my-site --profile site ``` That is a real website — designed pages, SEO with JSON-LD, sitemap, robots, `llms.txt`, an Open Graph image route, locale routing, motion presets, security headers, an accessibility baseline and a contact form — in a plain Next.js repo with **20 runtime dependencies** and **0 required environment variables**. It builds with `next build` and deploys to Vercel unchanged. It is not a CMS, not a static export, and ships no database, admin, auth or agent tools — those are the default profile, one flag away, same engine: ```bash npx create-cartwright@latest my-shop # default: database + admin + AI agent tools ``` Measured cold run: ~22 s to scaffold and install, ~27 s to build, ~2 s to a rendered homepage (Measured cold run, 2026-09-14, GitHub-hosted ubuntu-latest, create-cartwright@2.9.6, engine v0.57.0 (a9b47d4), --profile=site --ref=v0.57.0 --yes --pm=pnpm — release scaffold gate run 34820928302). ## Is this the right door? [#is-this-the-right-door] **You own the front** — pick one of the shipped design packs, start from the `blank` canvas and rewrite its homepage, header and footer freely, or write your own pack; SEO, the sitemap, share cards and locale routing keep working around whatever you render. The profile is the first of three choices — how the front gets built (a shipped pack, the blank canvas, your own pack) and where the content comes from (scratch, any URL, Shopify, WordPress/WooCommerce, a CSV, a Google Doc) are the other two, and the origin can force the profile: [Choose your path](/docs/getting-started/choose-your-path). **Choose `--profile site` when the request looks like:** * *"Build me a page"* — a landing page, a launch page, an event or travel overview, a one-pager. Scaffold, write the page (a timeline or a map is a component you write, as anywhere), `next build`, deploy; the design, SEO and locale routing are already there. * *"Build me a personal site / portfolio / company website"* whose content can live in the repo (`brand.config.ts` and the design pack's files) rather than in a CMS. * *"Build me a small site an AI can rebuild from a prompt"* — the `blank` design pack is a homepage, header and footer you own entirely, with the site's SEO and locale routing still wrapped around them. **Choose the default profile (`light`) when:** * the **owner will edit the site themselves** after launch without touching files — the admin edits the site's own pages at `/admin/sider` (home, services, about, contact: title, body, SEO, publish state), not just products and orders, and it needs the database. A `site` scaffold's content lives in `brand.config.ts` and the design pack, edited in an editor and deployed; * the site should later **sell** — the same codebase runs `website`, `webshop` and `agent-marketplace` mode, but the shop lives in the database-backed profiles; * an agent should be able to **operate** the site — the REST + MCP tool surface, API keys and audit log are database-backed. **Choose neither (say so rather than forcing it):** a web app — a dashboard, an internal tool, a novel app — is `create-next-app`. A docs site or blog of hundreds of Markdown pages wants a Markdown content pipeline, which Cartwright is not (the runtime blog with RSS and `BlogPosting` JSON-LD is a default-profile plugin). And for a one-off page you will never grow, `create-next-app` is as fast — see [so, is it faster?](#so-is-it-faster). ## What you get [#what-you-get] * **A designed homepage.** 8 design packs ship in the scaffold, including `blank` — not a design, a starting point you rewrite freely. Pick one with `designSlug` in `brand.config.ts`; the palette, chrome and motion follow. * **Found and cited by default.** `Organization` and `WebSite` JSON-LD, `sitemap.xml`, `robots.txt`, `llms.txt`, canonical URLs, and an Open Graph image route (`/opengraph-image` for the site, `/og?title=…` for any page) so a shared link carries a card. * **The engine's baseline.** Locale routing (`en` by default; add locales in `brand.config.ts`), scroll-driven motion presets you can switch on (`brand.features.motionEffects`, with `prefers-reduced-motion` guards), security headers with a report-only CSP, an accessibility baseline, and a contact form that mails you through Resend (`--with none` for the bare site). * **A plain Next.js repo.** `pnpm dev`, `pnpm build`, `pnpm start`. No `postinstall`, no migrations, no seed. Sentry's hooks ship dormant (no DSN, no-op) — nothing calls out at runtime unless you give it a key. Three of the 20 runtime dependencies are dormant — the MCP SDK, `jsdom` and `v0-sdk` are installed, but nothing in this profile's runtime imports them. ## What you do not get, on purpose [#what-you-do-not-get-on-purpose] These are profile boundaries, not switched-off features. If a requirement crosses one, scaffold the default profile instead of reassembling the removed runtime by hand. * **No admin and no runtime editing.** Content lives in files: `brand.config.ts`, the design pack, `messages/*.json`. Browser editing is the default profile's admin. * **No database, auth, cart or checkout.** No `/admin`, no accounts, no orders. * **No agent tool surface on the site itself.** No MCP server, no REST tool registry, no API keys. Discovery is capability-aware: the scaffold advertises only what it runs. * **`/` redirects to your default locale** (`/en` in a new scaffold). There is no root page today. * **No map, timeline, weather or checklist sections.** The section vocabulary is marketing-shaped; components like these you write yourself — in the `blank` pack they are ordinary React. * **Only site-level structured data renders by itself.** `Organization`/`WebSite` JSON-LD are emitted out of the box; builders for `FAQPage`, `HowTo` and `ItemList` exist in `lib/builder/section-jsonld.ts` and the generic `` renderer takes any type — `Event`, `Place` or `TouristTrip` you compose yourself. * **Not a static export.** It is a Node.js 22+ app (the OG route, the sitemap and the contact endpoint need a server) — Vercel, or any Node host. Not GitHub Pages. ## Scaffold [#scaffold] Interactive: ```bash npx create-cartwright@latest my-site --profile site ``` Unattended (what an AI agent or a script runs): ```bash npx create-cartwright@latest my-site --yes --profile site --no-github --no-start ``` With pnpm detected, the CLI's profile-specific next steps read: ```text ✓ Site profile — a plain website: no database, no admin, no commerce Next steps: cd my-site pnpm dev # http://localhost:3000/en — no database, no login, just your site Content lives in brand.config.ts; design via designs/ and the shipped packs. ``` The CLI then prints its shared epilogue (a CI-workflow note, GitHub/Vercel lines written for the shop profiles, and a Quick Start link); it applies to the shop profiles and can be ignored here — the five lines above are the site's. Verify it is what it says — no database anywhere in the repo, and it boots without needing an environment variable (the CLI still writes a generic `.env`/`.env.local`; delete both and it still answers 200): ```bash cd my-site grep -q '"profile": "site"' .cartwright/profile.json && test ! -e prisma && echo site-ok pnpm dev & # assumes :3000 is free sleep 5 # let the dev server start listening curl -sL -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' http://localhost:3000/ # 200 (follows / → /en) ``` ## Make it yours [#make-it-yours] * **Words.** `brand.config.ts` → `storeName`, `website.headline`, `website.tagline`, `website.cta`, `website.ctaHref`, and `url` — your real domain. On Vercel, `NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL` (or the deployment's own URL) wins over it for canonicals, the Organization JSON-LD and the OG image URL; the homepage's `WebSite` JSON-LD reads `url` directly — set it to the real domain so the two agree. * **Look.** `designSlug` in `brand.config.ts` — slugs in `designs/options.ts`. For a bespoke one-page build set `designSlug: "blank"` and write `designs/blank/homepage.tsx`; its in-file guide explains the props. The `blank` pack brings its own bare header and footer (`designs/blank/chrome.tsx` — rewrite them too); SEO and locale routing stay wrapped around whatever you render. * **Pages.** Add `app/[locale]/trip/page.tsx` — a normal Next.js route; the `[locale]` layout gives it the site chrome. Prefix internal links with `/${locale}`. * **Images.** Drop them in `public/` and reference them by path. * **Languages.** `locales` and `defaultLocale` in `brand.config.ts`; `messages/.json` holds the shared UI strings. Verify a change landed: ```bash curl -s http://localhost:3000/en | grep -o ']*>[^<]*' ``` ## Build and deploy [#build-and-deploy] ```bash pnpm build # plain `next build` — no db:setup, no migration step pnpm start # production server on :3000 ``` Push to GitHub and import the repo at [vercel.com](https://vercel.com), or run `npx vercel` from the terminal — **no environment variables are required to build and serve the site**. The one thing that needs a key is the contact form: set `RESEND_API_KEY` and `RESEND_FROM` before it can deliver mail in production (without them, submissions fail with a friendly error on Vercel; in local development they land in `.mail-previews/`). Don't want a form at all? Scaffold with `--with none`. The step-by-step version: [From code to live](/docs/getting-started/from-code-to-live). ```bash gh repo create my-site --private --source=. --remote=origin --push ``` ## Measured [#measured] | Step | Time | | ----------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- | | Scaffold + install | ~22 s | | `next build` | ~27 s | | Boot to HTTP 200 with a rendered H1 | ~2 s | Measured cold run, 2026-09-14, GitHub-hosted ubuntu-latest, create-cartwright@2.9.6, engine v0.57.0 (a9b47d4), --profile=site --ref=v0.57.0 --yes --pm=pnpm — release scaffold gate run 34820928302 — from the [release scaffold gate](https://github.com/Teloz1870/cartwright-app/actions/workflows/release-scaffold-gate.yml), which scaffolds every profile exactly like a customer on every engine release and records the numbers with their provenance. They are copied from that record, never typed. ## So, is it faster? [#so-is-it-faster] Faster to a *finished* page, not to an *empty* one. `create-next-app` hands you a blank route in seconds; `--profile site` hands you a designed, SEO-wired site in a comparable time (the measured record is above — there is no measured create-next-app number here, so this is not a race claim). The time you save is the day that comes *after* `create-next-app` — layout, metadata, OG image, sitemap, locale routing, accessibility, security headers. What you do not save: a map, a timeline or a weather widget are components you write in either case. For a one-off page you will never grow, `create-next-app` is fine. ## When you outgrow it [#when-you-outgrow-it] There is no in-place profile upgrade today. Scaffold the default profile (`npx create-cartwright@latest my-site`) and carry over `brand.config.ts` and your `designs//` folder — the design system, sections and routing are the same engine, so a pack written for `site` renders unchanged with the admin, database and tool surface behind it.