RunCabin Blog · How it works

How to put your website online from ChatGPT

October 26, 2026 · 6 min read

To put your business website online from ChatGPT, add RunCabin to ChatGPT as a custom MCP server at https://runcabin.com/mcp, sign in on RunCabin's page, and ask ChatGPT to publish. The site goes live at a free RunCabin address with HTTPS, and ChatGPT can keep it up to date from then on. Hosting is free on that address, or $4.99 a month or $47.99 a year on your own domain, plus the domain's price.

This post is for owners who already ask ChatGPT for help with their business and want their website handled the same way: by asking. If you build or run agents yourself, the technical overview is on our page about website hosting for AI agents.

What does ChatGPT need to put a website online?

ChatGPT can write a page in seconds. Putting it online at a real address takes a host, and for your own .com, a domain. ChatGPT reaches outside services through apps, which OpenAI has also called connectors and plugins, and you can add one yourself as a custom MCP server. That is how RunCabin connects.

Without a host connected, the usual next step is a chore list: copy the files out of the chat, sign up for hosting, upload them, and change domain settings. With RunCabin connected, publishing is one request that comes back with the live https address.

How to add RunCabin to ChatGPT

You do this once, in ChatGPT on the web. OpenAI renames these menus often, so look for the screen where apps or connectors are added.

1. Open ChatGPT's settings. Find where apps or connectors are added (it has been called Apps, Apps & Connectors and Plugins). If ChatGPT asks for it, turn on Developer mode under Advanced settings first.
2. Add RunCabin as a custom MCP server. Choose Create (or Add custom MCP server), name it RunCabin, enter https://runcabin.com/mcp as the server URL, and choose OAuth for authentication.
3. Sign in on RunCabin's page. When RunCabin's sign-in page opens, sign in with Google or email and approve the connection. The approval screen shows the app's name and the address it sends you back to; approve only if you started this from ChatGPT and that address is on chatgpt.com. Your first sign-in creates your free RunCabin account. If you're new and use email, RunCabin first emails you a link to confirm your address; open it, then connect again. Signing in with Google skips that step.
4. Turn it on in a chat. In a new chat, turn RunCabin on from the tools menu if ChatGPT doesn't pick it up on its own.

Custom MCP servers are not on every ChatGPT plan, and a workspace admin may have to allow them; if you don't see the option, that's why. RunCabin is not endorsed by OpenAI. The setup page has the ChatGPT steps, plus setup for Claude, Muse and coding tools.

What to ask ChatGPT to do

Once RunCabin is connected, try requests like these, and read what ChatGPT says it will do before you approve.

• "Make a one-page website for my business and put it online." RunCabin replies with the live https address and a short list of anything to fix, such as an image without alt text, which ChatGPT can fix and publish again to the same address.
• "Change my Saturday hours to 8 to 2." ChatGPT can read the page that is live now, change just the hours and publish it to the same address.
• "Put my own photos on the site." ChatGPT gives you a link to open on your phone, you pick the photos, and it places them on the page.
• "Add a contact form that emails me." Messages are stored and emailed to you, and ChatGPT can read them back when you ask who wrote in.
• "Show me a preview before you publish." ChatGPT can stage the new version at a preview address and make it live once you have looked. A preview address isn't private: anyone with the link can open it.
• "Roll back the last publish." Every publish is a new version and earlier ones are kept, so the version before serves again.
• "Put the site on my own domain." Checking a name and its price is free. To buy it, you get a checkout link for exactly that order, which you open, review and pay; registration, DNS and HTTPS are then set up for you. For a domain you already own, the link starts hosting and you add two records at your provider.

What stays in your control

• Money. RunCabin never charges you through ChatGPT. Anything paid, such as a domain, comes back as a checkout link that you open, review and pay yourself.
• Access. ChatGPT gets a sign-in token for RunCabin, never your password, and it reaches only the sites on your own account. Disconnect it at runcabin.com/keys, and it is signed out immediately.
• Mistakes. A bad publish rolls back in one request. Four things stay done even after a rollback: deleting a site (its form messages go with it), replacing an uploaded image or font, swapping your domain, and changing where email forwards. Read those requests before you approve them.
• Secrets. A publish that contains a recognizable secret key, such as a Stripe or OpenAI key, is refused before anything is written.
• Facts. RunCabin gives every connected assistant a build guide, and one of its rules is to put on the page only facts the owner gave, never invented reviews or ratings. Ask for a preview and read it before it goes live.

For the longer answer, read is it safe to let an AI agent update your website?

What it costs

Free: publishing and hosting on a RunCabin address, with HTTPS, forms that email you, visit counts and older versions for rollback. No card and no time limit.

On your own domain: hosting is $4.99 a month or $47.99 a year (yearly saves $11.89 over paying monthly), plus the domain's price, shown before you pay. On a domain bought through RunCabin, forwarding an address like hello@yourdomain.com to your inbox and adding TXT records come at no extra charge. ChatGPT's own plans are separate and set by OpenAI.

Every page carries a small "Built with RunCabin" badge, on your own domain too. Cancel at runcabin.com/cancel: hosting runs to the end of the period you paid for, then your custom domain stops serving and the free address keeps working.

Where your site runs

Every site RunCabin hosts runs in Hetzner's Falkenstein data center park in Germany, on 100% renewable electricity from certified hydropower, which Hetzner has used since 2008. It costs you nothing extra. We make no carbon claim beyond that. How we checked.

Green data center· 100% hydropower

Questions

Can ChatGPT build and host a website?

ChatGPT can write the pages, but it needs a host to put them online. With RunCabin added as a custom MCP server, ChatGPT can publish your site to a free RunCabin address with HTTPS and keep it up to date.

Does ChatGPT need my RunCabin password?

No. You sign in with Google or email on RunCabin's own page, and ChatGPT gets a sign-in token for RunCabin, not your password. You can take its access back at runcabin.com/keys at any time.

Is RunCabin in ChatGPT's app directory?

No. You add RunCabin yourself as a custom MCP server at https://runcabin.com/mcp. RunCabin is not endorsed by OpenAI.

Can ChatGPT buy a domain for me?

It can check whether a name is available and what it costs, for free, and then give you a checkout link. You open the link, review the order and pay yourself. RunCabin never charges you through ChatGPT.

Can I undo a change ChatGPT made to my website?

Yes, if it was a publish. Every publish is kept, so ChatGPT can roll the site back to the version before. Deleting a site, replacing an uploaded image or font, swapping your domain and changing where email forwards are not undone by a rollback.

How much does it cost to host a website from ChatGPT?

Nothing on a free RunCabin address. On your own domain, hosting is $4.99 a month or $47.99 a year, plus the domain's price, shown before you pay. ChatGPT's own plans are separate and set by OpenAI.

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Related reading: website hosting for AI agents · put your website online from Claude · is it safe to let an AI agent update your website? · how to connect and manage your website with AI · setup for each app