Introduction

Chirai turns a description in plain words into a working website or mobile app — with its own database, customer accounts, an admin area you can use, and checks on every page before you see it. This book explains how to use it, from your first build to running a shop.

What you get

When a build finishes you have a real site, not a mockup:

• Pages written as real code (Next.js 15 and React), usually 50–110 files for a typical site.
• Its own database (Supabase / Postgres), separate from every other site, with access rules so visitors can only see and change what they should.
• Customer accounts — sign up, sign in, forgot password, an account page with the person's own records, "download my data" and "delete my account".
• Manage site — an admin area for your products, orders, bookings, text, team and settings. No code needed.
• Built-in services when your site needs them: a shop (cart, checkout, invoices, discount codes, GST), bookings with real availability, payments, emails, an AI assistant, analytics.
• Legal pages (privacy, terms, returns) filled with your business details.
• A preview you can click through, and when you're ready, a live address like yourname.chirai.dev or your own domain.

How a build works, in one minute

1. You describe the site and answer a few short questions IILA (Chirai's assistant) asks.
2. Chirai plans the pages and data, writes the code, checks every file, sets up the database, and opens every page in a real browser — fixing what it finds. A typical build takes about 27 minutes (why).
3. You get a preview in the Studio: change anything by talking to IILA or clicking on the page.
4. You fill in your real content in Manage site and press Publish.

How to read this book

The chapters follow the order you'll need them. If you're new, read Quick start and Writing a good description first — the description is the single biggest thing you control. Everything else you can look up when you get there. Use the search box on the docs home to jump to any topic.