Hand Claude the Keys

You bought a server and a domain. Now Claude ships it.

By the end of this lesson

You'll understand the exact, simple way a project goes live.

This is the part people think is impossible. It isn't. You give Claude three things — the server's address (an IP), the domain name, and the login — and you tell it to put your project online. It does everything else.

What you hand Claude — and how to get it

1The IP and password from when you created the server. (That's 'the login' — since you chose password login, it's just that password. Claude reaches the server over a secure connection called SSH; you don't have to set that up.)
2Point your domain at the server: in your domain provider, add an 'A record' set to your server's IP. (An A record is just the row that says 'this name → this computer'; ignore the rows the registrar pre-filled.) Not sure where that is? Ask Claude: 'how do I point mytool.com to 203.0.113.10 at [your registrar]?' — it walks you through your exact provider.
3Then paste the IP, the password and the domain to Claude and tell it to deploy.

ℹOrder matters (the step everyone misses)

Point the domain (the A record) FIRST, then let Claude deploy and add the HTTPS padlock. DNS changes take anywhere from minutes to a couple of HOURS to spread — if Claude says the domain isn't answering yet, that's the wait, not a mistake: come back later and say 'try again'. And honestly: first deploys often take a couple of rounds of 'it says X — fix it'. Same loop you learned in Module 6, just on a rented computer.

What you actually say

you ▸ Deploy my project to my server. Here's the IP: 203.0.113.10,
      the login, and my domain: mytool.com. Set up HTTPS so it's secure,
      basic security, and make it live. Do it all yourself.

claude ▸ connecting… installing… configuring HTTPS certificate…
claude ▸ securing the server… deploying your project… ✓
claude ▸ Done. Your tool is live at https://mytool.com

✦This is literally the whole workflow

Claude installs the certificates (the padlock/HTTPS), sets up the basic security, copies your project over, and starts it. You configure nothing. You hand over the address and the keys; it does the plumbing.

!Keep it sane

Use a fresh server just for your project, not a machine with sensitive stuff. Keep your server login and keys private. And remember what 'online' means: ANYONE can open the address. If the tool holds personal data — your budget, your health — add to the deploy request: 'put a simple password page on it'. That's the safety bar for going live.

Living with your online tool (the part nobody tells you)

1It costs money monthly until you turn it off. The cheap server is a few dollars a month, the domain a few dollars a year — but it bills until YOU stop it.
2Ask Claude, right after the deploy: 'save the server address and login in a file in this project folder' — so any future conversation can manage the server without you re-explaining.
3Checking it's alive = opening your domain in a browser. Down? Tell Claude: 'my site at mytool.com is down — the server details are in the folder; connect and fix it.'
4Updating it later: change the tool on your computer first, check it works, then say 'deploy the update'.
5Done with it? Delete the server in the provider's panel — billing stops that day — and just let the domain expire. That's the whole off-switch.

Quick check

What's your job in deploying a project?

Author

Evgeny Arsentyev

PhD · Chief Product Officer at a healthtech company

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