Setting Up Your Cloud Site

Use this page when you want Dyrected Cloud to handle the backend for a site you already built with a coding agent or AI app builder. By the end, you should have one Dyrected site, the three values your integration needs, and a clear decision about whether editors will use the hosted admin or your own /admin route.

Dyrected Cloud answers one setup question: where the CMS backend runs. It does not replace your existing frontend, and it does not force you to move the admin to a different domain unless you want to.

What a Cloud site gives you

When you create a site in Dyrected Cloud, Dyrected hosts the content API, database, storage, and admin authentication for that site.

That is the recommended path when:

• your frontend already exists
• you want the shortest route to a working editor
• you do not want to provision your own database or storage first
• you are connecting Dyrected through an AI builder workflow

If you want Dyrected fully self-hosted inside your Next.js or Nuxt app instead, start with Installation.

Before you start

Have these ready before you connect anything:

• the website project open in the AI builder or code editor that owns the code
• a Dyrected account
• a clear idea of which website this site belongs to

You do not need to model the schema yet. The prompt-guided flow handles that later.

Create the site

Go to app.dyrected.com and create a new site.

As soon as the site exists, keep the setup area open. That is where you can copy the guided prompt and confirm the connection details for this site.

Collect the three values the integration needs

Every Cloud-backed setup depends on the same three values:

• Site ID
• Site API key
• Base URL

These values identify the Cloud site and tell the app where to send content requests.

Create and manage the site in app.dyrected.com. That hosted dashboard is the control surface. The Base URL is the backend URL your frontend or embedded admin uses when it sends requests to that Dyrected site.

The easiest path is to copy the setup prompt from Dyrected and let it ask for these values at the right stage. If you are connecting things manually, keep them nearby before you continue.

What gets written to environment variables

The exact variable names depend on how you are connecting the site.

If you run npx dyrected init in a self-hosted Next.js or Nuxt project, the current CLI writes these Cloud variables into .env.example:

• DYRECTED_URL
• DYRECTED_API_KEY
• DYRECTED_SITE_ID

It also writes public frontend variables for local admin/API access:

• Next.js: NEXT_PUBLIC_DYRECTED_URL, NEXT_PUBLIC_DYRECTED_API_KEY
• Nuxt: NUXT_PUBLIC_DYRECTED_URL, NUXT_PUBLIC_DYRECTED_API_KEY

If you are using the React or Vue setup that connects to Cloud directly, the current CLI writes:

• VITE_DYRECTED_URL
• VITE_DYRECTED_API_KEY
• VITE_DYRECTED_SITE_ID

That split matters. The runtime supports several environment-variable fallbacks, but this page only calls a variable CLI-generated when the current scaffold actually writes it.

Choose how editors will sign in

Once the backend is on Dyrected Cloud, you still have two valid admin entry points.

Both options use the same Dyrected Cloud backend. You are choosing where editors sign in, not where content is stored.

Hosted admin

Choose the hosted admin when you want the fastest handoff and the lowest maintenance.

Editors sign in on Dyrected's hosted dashboard. This is the simplest option when:

• you want Dyrected to own the editor surface
• you want Dyrected to handle admin updates
• you do not need the editor UI under your own domain

Embedded admin

Choose the embedded admin when you want editors to work inside your app, usually at /admin.

This is the better fit when:

• the client expects everything on the site's own domain
• you want tighter brand or product control around the editor entry point
• you are already mounting the admin through your app integration

With this path, your app owns the admin route and update cadence, while Dyrected Cloud still owns the backend.

Recommended path

For AI-built websites, the recommended order is:

1. Create the Cloud site.
2. Copy the Dyrected setup prompt.
3. Paste it into the same AI builder that owns the website code.
4. Review the editable-content checklist it sends back.
5. Give it the Site ID, Site API key, and Base URL when it asks.
6. Test one real content change before inviting editors.

That flow is explained in Using the Dyrected prompt.

Success check

You are ready to move on when:

• the site exists in Dyrected Cloud
• you know whether the admin will be hosted or embedded
• you have the Site ID, Site API key, and Base URL
• the website project is open in the tool that will make the integration changes

If those four things are true, continue to Using the Dyrected prompt.