Documentation
Public beta docs for developers using Shipboard as an AI UI builder and Next.js generator. For machine-readable context see llms.txt.
What is Shipboard?
Shipboard is an AI compiler for developers. You describe a product surface in chat; it generates multi-file React + Tailwind + TypeScript oriented toward Next.js App Router. Live preview is a projection of that source. The product is eject: GitHub, ZIP, or Netlify — code you own.
Golden path recipes
In the studio empty state, the golden path is Agent-ready store (Rebuild from URL stays as the URL bar). Admin Users, Auth Screens, and Kanban are ordinary chips — production dialect + @/app/actions, not the product thesis. Agent-ready store ejects a typed catalog plus /.well-known/ucp, MCP, Stripe, durable store_orders when DATABASE_URL is set, and channel= orders — same Ready to ship gate.
BYOB (Bring Your Own Backend)
Settings → Database: paste a Neon or Supabase Postgres connection string. Shipboard runs read-only introspection on that request. The schema map (table names, columns, and foreign keys) is stored in this browser only — localStorage key Shipboard.studio.settings.v1. It is not uploaded to Shipboard servers. The connection string is used for a single read-only introspect request and is not persisted. Database rows are never copied. After clone: cp .env.example .env.local and set DATABASE_URL.
Ship readiness
The studio toolbar shows Ready to ship, Needs Continue, or Building. Truncated or stub code is blocked from GitHub/ZIP/Netlify — click Continue to finish. Complete code with @/app/actions may warn if no BYOB is connected — still shippable, but set DATABASE_URL for real data.
Iteration diffs (Changes tab)
After a generation or Continue, open Changes to see files added/modified and a unified diff vs the previous version (or base). Jump to Code or copy hunks. Non-destructive review before push.
Continue in Cursor
Push to GitHub or download ZIP, open the folder in Cursor (cursor .), install deps, run the Next dev server, and extend with your agent. See /for-cursor for the full workflow.
Plans & limits
Free: 5 generations/day, 3 projects. Builder $15 CAD (40/day). Pro $25 CAD (120/day). Max $45 CAD (unlimited). Paid checkout is Stripe after GitHub or Google sign-in. A promo code, if you have one, maps to Pro — enter it in the upgrade dialog. Max priority support is hello@shipboard.ca. See /pricing and /contact.
Studio tools (scrape + Imagine)
If you paste a public https URL, Shipboard fetches the HTML and injects printed facts (title, headings, emails, phones, hours-like lines) before generating. On Grok (xAI) or OpenAI the model can also call scrape_url and generate_image (Grok Imagine). Rebuild from URL is a golden path: it will not invent emails, hours, or prices that were not on the page. Generated stills are not real staff photos. Localhost and private IPs are blocked.
Agent-ready store (golden path)
Studio empty state → Agent-ready store. One typed catalog (title, description, images, price, inventory, GTIN, brand, policy URLs) drives the human storefront and the machine profile. Eject (same Ready to ship gate) adds public/.well-known/ucp declaring dev.ucp.shopping over REST + MCP, four MCP tools (search_products, get_product, create_checkout_session, get_order), Stripe Checkout for humans, an ACP checkout-session stub that logs the Shared Payment Token, and store_orders with channel=chatgpt|gemini|copilot|human plus /admin/orders. Set DATABASE_URL on the ejected store so orders survive cold starts. No Shopify account. Deploy on Netlify. Canonical studio is shipboard.ca.
Ready to try?
Open studio