How to build a website with Cursor and publish it to your own domain

PageHub runs an MCP server, which is a set of tools an AI agent can call. Cursor supports remote MCP servers over Streamable HTTP with OAuth sign-in, so once you add PageHub, Cursor's agent can call tools like create_site, set_theme, screenshot_site, and publish_site for you.

The site lives in PageHub, not in your project folder. PageHub also sends its own build rules to Cursor when it connects, so you don't paste any instructions.

Go to pagehub.dev/signinand enter your email. You'll get a magic link and a 6-digit code. Use either one to sign in.

The free plan has no credit card and no time limit. It includes 1 published site, 1 custom domain, 20 pages per site, and hosting with SSL. Connecting Cursor works on every plan.

Cursor reads MCP servers from a file called mcp.json. Put it in one of two places:

• .cursor/mcp.json in a project, for that project only
• ~/.cursor/mcp.json in your home folder, for every project

Cursor merges both files. If the same server name is in both, the project file wins. Add this:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "PageHub": {
      "url": "https://pagehub.dev/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}

That's the whole Cursor MCP config. Save the file and restart Cursor. PageHub signs you in with OAuth, so there's no API key to paste. When Cursor starts the sign-in, a PageHub page opens in your browser. Sign in with your email, then click Approve on the Authorize PageHub screen.

To check it worked, open Customize in Cursor's sidebar, then MCPs. PageHub should be listed and switched on. Then ask the agent: “List my PageHub sites.”

By default, Cursor asks you to approve each MCP tool call. Click the arrow next to a tool name to see what it's about to send.

Open Cursor's agent chat and describe the site. Say who it's for, which pages you want, and what visitors should do. Real details (hours, prices, your email) beat placeholders. Swap the bracketed parts in these prompts for your own.

Use PageHub to build a website for [business name], a [type of business] in [city].
Pages: Home, Services (with prices), and Contact.
Hours: [days and times]. Address: [address]. Phone: [phone].
Add a contact form that asks for name, email, and what they need.
Keep the look [warm and simple / bold / minimal].
Screenshot it on desktop and mobile before you tell me it's done. Don't publish yet.

Use PageHub to create a portfolio site for me. I'm a [job title] in [city].
Home page: a short intro, then a grid of 6 projects, each with a title, a one-line summary, and an image.
Add an About page and a contact section with my email, [you@example.com].
Clean layout with lots of white space. Use stock photos for now and I'll swap in my own.
Show me screenshots before publishing.

Use PageHub to make a one-page site for my side project, [name]: [one sentence on what it does].
Sections: a hero with an email sign-up form, 3 features, a short FAQ, and a footer.
Suggest 3 color palettes and let me pick one before you build.
When it's built, run an SEO check and fix what it finds. Don't publish until I say so.

From there, Cursor looks up PageHub's templates and section blocks, creates the site with create_site, sets colors and fonts with set_theme, adds sections, and finds stock photos with find_image. Then it checks its work with screenshot_site.

Everything Cursor builds lands in a draft. Nobody else sees it until you publish.

Ask for screenshots at any point. screenshot_site takes a real browser screenshot of the draft, one section at a time if you like, and at phone width (390 pixels). Cursor shows returned images in the chat, and models that read images can check them.

To edit by hand, open your PageHub dashboard, pick the site, and click Design. That opens the visual editor. Drag sections around, change colors and fonts, and rewrite text. Cursor reads the same draft, so it sees your edits the next time you ask for changes.

Before you publish, ask Cursor to run audit_seo and audit_accessibility and fix what they find.

Ask Cursor: “Connect [example.com] to this site and tell me the DNS records to add.” It calls set_domain, which attaches the domain and returns the records. Add them where you bought the domain:

• The bare domain (example.com) gets an A record at @.
• A subdomain such as www gets a CNAME record.
• Sometimes there's also a TXT record, to prove you own the domain.

Copy each value exactly as Cursor gives it to you. The values are specific to your site, so a value from another guide won't work.

PageHub sets up both example.com and www.example.com, and by default sends www visitors to the bare domain. SSL certificates are issued automatically and can take a few minutes once DNS is in place.

Then ask: “Is my domain working yet?” Cursor checks with get_domain_status. Connecting a domain doesn't publish the site, so finish with: “Publish the site.” That calls publish_site, and the site is live.

Rather click? The Domains page for your site in the PageHub dashboard shows the same records.

You have two ways in, and both edit the same draft.

• From Cursor:open a chat and ask, for example, “In my PageHub site [name], add a reviews section under Services.” Check the screenshot, then say “publish.”
• From the editor: open the site, click Design, make your changes, and publish.

If a change goes wrong, the site's History page lets you restore an earlier version of the whole site or one page. The free plan keeps 15 versions.

PageHub is one way to publish a website from Cursor. You can also have Cursor write the site as code in your project, then deploy the code yourself. That's how most people deploy a website from Cursor today.

• Vercel or Netlify: connect your Git repository, and each push builds and deploys the site. You add your domain in their dashboard and set DNS at your registrar. A good fit when the site is really an app with its own code.
• GitHub Pages: serves static files straight from a repository. A good fit for simple static sites and project docs.

The tradeoff: you own every line and can build anything. You also handle Git, builds, and DNS yourself, and every text change is a code change. Someone who doesn't use Cursor can't easily update it. PageHub fits when you want a site that people can edit visually. It isn't the right tool for custom app logic.

PageHub doesn't show up in Cursor

Check the file is named mcp.json and sits in .cursor/ in your project or in ~/.cursor/. A missing comma or bracket breaks the whole file. Restart Cursor after saving. Then open Customize, then MCPs, and make sure PageHub is switched on.

Still missing? Open the Output panel (Cmd+Shift+U on Mac, Ctrl+Shift+U on Windows and Linux) and pick MCP Logs. It shows connection errors, sign-in problems, and crashes.

Sign-in doesn't finish

In the browser window, sign in with the email link or the 6-digit code, then click Approve. If the code has expired, request a new one.

If the browser sign-in still won't complete, use an API key instead. Create one at pagehub.dev/dashboard/api-key, set it as PAGEHUB_API_KEY in your shell profile, restart Cursor, and use:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "PageHub": {
      "url": "https://pagehub.dev/api/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${env:PAGEHUB_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor says a tool isn't available

Check the tool is switched on in the tools list at the top of the chat panel. If every PageHub tool is missing, open Customize, then MCPs, and check PageHub is switched on.

If you see a rate-limit error, wait a minute. The server allows 120 requests per minute for each sign-in.

The domain isn't working

• Compare each record at your registrar with what Cursor gave you, character for character. A wrong value fails the same way slow DNS does.
• The bare domain needs an A record. It can't be a CNAME.
• If Cursor gave you a TXT record, add it as well as the others.
• DNS changes can take a while to spread. Ask Cursor to check the domain again later.
• If the domain is already attached to another Vercel project, remove it there first, then ask Cursor to try again.
• Each site takes 1 domain, plus its www version.