Waymaker
Waymaker Host

How Host Direct Works

Learn about How Host Direct Works in WaymakerOS.

Host DirectTechnical

Under the hood, Host Direct connects AI agents to Waymaker Host's global deployment infrastructure through MCP tools. This page explains what happens when you say "build me a website."

The flow

When your AI agent deploys a site through Host Direct, six things happen in sequence:

1. Agent generates files

The AI agent (Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible tool) writes the HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and any other static files your site needs. These are generated in memory — no files are saved to your computer unless you ask for them.

2. Agent calls host_app_upload

The agent invokes the Waymaker MCP tool host_app_upload with the file contents. If this is a new site, it includes a name. If it's an update to an existing site, it includes the app ID.

host_app_upload({
  name: "my-landing-page",
  files: [
    { path: "index.html", content: "<!DOCTYPE html>..." },
    { path: "style.css", content: "body { ... }" },
    { path: "app.js", content: "console.log('hello')" }
  ]
})

For binary files like images, the agent base64-encodes the content:

{ path: "logo.png", content: "iVBORw0KGgo...", encoding: "base64" }

3. Waymaker creates the app

If this is the first deployment, Waymaker creates a new app record in your organization and provisions it on Waymaker's global edge network. This gives your site a unique project name and deployment target.

4. Files are hashed and uploaded

Each file is hashed using the BLAKE3 algorithm to create a unique content identifier. The files are then uploaded to Waymaker's asset storage with their content type metadata (so browsers know style.css is CSS and logo.png is an image).

5. Deployment manifest is created

A manifest maps each file path to its content hash. This tells the CDN which files make up this version of your site:

/index.html  → b4adeef7f3a171da167c6fcb0417c525
/style.css   → 9a2e3f1bc8d74e5a6b0c1d2e3f4a5b6c
/app.js      → 7d8e9f0a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d0e1f2a

6. Site goes live

The manifest is deployed to Waymaker's global edge network — 330+ cities worldwide with sub-50ms latency. Your site is now accessible with automatic HTTPS.

The entire process typically takes 10-30 seconds.

URLs and versioning

Deployment URL

Each deployment gets a unique URL:

https://my-app--yourorg.waymakerapp.com

This URL is permanent — it always points to that exact version of your site.

Production URL

The latest deployment is also available at the project URL:

https://my-app--yourorg.waymakerapp.com

This always points to the most recent successful deployment.

Custom domain

Once you set up a custom domain, it points to the latest deployment:

https://mysite.com → latest deployment

What you can deploy

Host Direct serves static files. That means:

Supported:

  • HTML pages (single or multi-page)
  • CSS stylesheets
  • JavaScript (client-side)
  • Images (PNG, JPG, GIF, SVG, WebP, ICO)
  • Fonts (WOFF, WOFF2)
  • JSON data files
  • XML files
  • Plain text files

Not part of Host Direct (it's for static files uploaded directly — no build step):

  • Server-side code and server-side rendering — deploy a Git-connected app instead, which runs the full server runtime
  • A Postgres database — connect one to a Git-connected app (see Databases)

Host Direct is the fastest path for a static site. When you need a server or a database, graduate to a Git-connected app — same platform, same branded URL, more power. See Apps, Ambassadors & Agents.

But "static" is powerful

Modern JavaScript makes static sites remarkably capable:

  • Forms — Send submissions to an Ambassador endpoint or third-party service
  • API calls — Fetch data from any API using JavaScript
  • Authentication — Use Clerk, Auth0, or any client-side auth provider
  • Real-time data — WebSockets and Server-Sent Events work in static sites
  • Offline support — Service workers enable offline-capable progressive web apps
  • Interactive apps — React, Vue, Svelte, and other frameworks compile to static files

File size limits

LimitValue
Maximum file size25 MB per file
Maximum files per deployment20,000
Maximum total deployment size40 MB per upload batch

For most websites, these limits are more than sufficient. A typical landing page with images is under 5 MB total.

MCP tool reference

host_app_upload

The core Host Direct tool. Creates or updates an app with file contents.

Parameters:

ParameterTypeRequiredDescription
namestringYes (if no app_id)App name — creates a new app
app_idstringYes (if no name)Existing app ID — updates the app
filesarrayYesArray of file objects
files[].pathstringYesFile path relative to site root
files[].contentstringYesFile content (text or base64)
files[].encodingstringNo"text" (default) or "base64" for binary files

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "app_id": "d6bffe00-e022-460c-9ac0-ff8d4fc7f602",
  "app_name": "my-landing-page",
  "slug": "my-landing-page",
  "deployment_id": "ee542579-5bbe-4592-b702-119d1406af0c",
  "url": "https://my-landing-page--yourorg.waymakerapp.com",
  "files_uploaded": 3
}