Bolt.new Project Download: Export Your Project as a ZIP

Bolt.new is fantastic for prototyping. The in-browser StackBlitz preview is genuinely impressive, and the AI feedback loop is fast. Bolt can also publish the result itself, for free, at a *.bolt.host address. What it cannot do for free is put the site on a domain you own: that needs a paid Bolt plan, and the site stays inside Bolt's hosting. Downloading the project is how you take the domain, the jurisdiction and the hosting bill into your own hands.

This guide is the five-minute path from a Bolt project to a real URL.

How to download your Bolt.new project as a ZIP

1. Open the project you want to export in Bolt.new.
2. In the top left of your screen, click the project title, then click Export > Download.
3. Save the ZIP file to your computer, then extract it into a new folder.
4. Open that folder and confirm it contains package.json, src/, and the rest of your project files.

The ZIP is a complete copy of the project, not just the rendered preview. You can open it in a local editor, put it in a GitHub repository, or build it for another host.

Why the Bolt preview is not your production site

The Bolt preview runs entirely in your browser via StackBlitz's WebContainer. That's amazing for development. It's wrong for production:

• Other users can't access your localhost-style preview
• The WebContainer doesn't have an externally addressable URL
• Even if it did, you'd be running production traffic on someone else's browser-side runtime
• Bolt's own Publish ships to a *.bolt.host address, and its Netlify integration ships to Netlify; both work, and both keep you on US-led infrastructure

So the preview is never the site. Bolt's own hosting is a real answer for a quick public URL, but the moment you want your own domain without upgrading Bolt, EU jurisdiction, or a host you can leave without rebuilding, you export. Here's the path.

Step 1: Check the exported project

After downloading the ZIP, unzip it locally:

unzip my-bolt-project.zip
cd my-bolt-project

You should see a typical Vite + React + Tailwind layout: package.json, src/, public/, index.html, vite.config.ts.

Moving a Bolt project into Claude or another AI tool

That unzipped folder is also the handoff artifact if you want to continue the project somewhere else. There is no import button between AI builders, and there does not need to be: the export is ordinary source code.

• Claude Code. Open the folder in your terminal and run Claude Code in it. It reads the project as it stands, so you can carry on editing with full context instead of re-describing the app.
• Claude in the browser. Upload the files you want to work on to the conversation. Send the source files rather than the built output, and skip node_modules entirely. For a typical Bolt project that means src/, index.html, package.json and the Tailwind and Vite config.
• Anything else. Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code and the rest open the folder directly, because at this point it is a normal Vite project.

The thing to keep in mind: only the code moves. Any Bolt-specific integration you configured inside Bolt, and Bolt's own hosting, stay behind. That is usually the reason for the move, but it does mean deployment becomes your decision again, which is the rest of this guide. If you continue in Claude, connecting the VibeDeploy MCP server lets Claude deploy the project for you without leaving the conversation.

Step 2: Build locally

Bolt's preview is dev-mode. The deploy needs the production build:

npm install
npm run build

The dist/ folder is your deployable artifact. Keep an eye out for build errors. Bolt sometimes generates code with subtle TypeScript or import issues that the dev server tolerates but the production build catches. Fix them as they come up.

If Bolt used a non-standard config (sometimes it generates Astro or Next.js scaffolds), the build command and output folder may differ. Check the README inside the ZIP.

Step 3: Pick a host

Publishing from inside Bolt is the path of least resistance. There are two such paths, and both are one click. The trade-offs:

• Bolt's own hosting: free on a *.bolt.host address, nothing to configure. Attaching your own domain requires a paid Bolt plan, and the hosting stays Bolt's.
• Bolt's Netlify integration: zero-config and well-documented, but US-headquartered, and Netlify's free plan is now a metered pool of usage credits rather than a fixed bandwidth allowance.

For EU residency and flat pricing, VibeDeploy is the EU equivalent. The deploy steps are similar.

This guide assumes VibeDeploy from here. The rest of the pattern translates directly to Netlify, Cloudflare Pages, and others.

Step 4: Upload to VibeDeploy

Sign in to VibeDeploy. Click New Site. You have three options for getting the build to the host:

Option A: drag-and-drop

Drag the dist/ folder into the upload area. Done in 10 seconds.

Option B: deploy from an AI agent (MCP)

Connect the VibeDeploy MCP server (https://mcp.vibedeploy.be/mcp) in Claude or Cursor and ask the agent to deploy. It runs the build and uploads for you. Each redeploy is incremental.

Option C: Git connect

If you push the project to GitHub, connect the repo and let VibeDeploy redeploy on every push. This is the right pattern if you'll keep iterating.

Step 5: Custom domain

Add your domain in site settings. Add a CNAME at your registrar pointing to VibeDeploy's edge. SSL provisions in under a minute.

Step 6: Redeploy the next Bolt iteration

Bolt connects to GitHub natively and syncs your commits automatically, which makes future iterations one step away:

• GitHub connect. Connect Bolt to a GitHub repository once. Bolt pushes your changes there automatically, and if that same repository is connected to VibeDeploy, every push redeploys the site.
• AI agent. Connect the VibeDeploy MCP server (https://mcp.vibedeploy.be/mcp) in Claude or Cursor, or paste your dashboard deploy guide into ChatGPT or Gemini, and tell the agent to redeploy the new build.

Workflow either way: edit in Bolt, and either the GitHub sync or your AI agent carries the change through to a redeploy. The manual download is only needed for the first upload.

What works, what doesn't

These are the patterns we see with Bolt-built projects:

Works without changes:

• Static HTML, single-page apps, client-side fetch to external APIs
• Client-side routing (React Router, Vue Router, Solid Router)
• Tailwind plus shadcn/ui (Bolt's default styling)
• Most simple full-stack-looking sites where the "backend" is actually fetch calls to OpenAI, Supabase, or similar SaaS

Needs adjustment:

• Anything that referenced the StackBlitz WebContainer's mock APIs
• Hardcoded localhost URLs (search and replace before deploying)
• Server-side Bolt scaffolds (rare, but if Bolt generated a Next.js with API routes, those need a separate runtime)

Doesn't work on static hosts:

• Real backends (Express, Hono, etc.) Bolt sometimes generates. Move those to a serverless platform (Cloudflare Workers, Vercel functions) or a small VPS.

Cost

VibeDeploy's 14-day free trial covers 1 site with custom domain. The Maker plan at €15/month covers 3 sites. For a static Bolt project with normal traffic, you'll likely fit on Maker indefinitely.

Compared to Netlify Pro at $20 per month on a metered credit pool, the EU-resident path is both cheaper and more predictable for small teams.

Common problems

"I clicked Publish in Bolt and it went live on bolt.host." That's the built-in path, and it is a real site. To move it to a domain you own without upgrading Bolt, use the project title in the top left, then Export > Download, and follow the steps above.

"My fetch calls fail in production." Bolt generates code that often references the WebContainer's local mock API. Search for localhost and 127.0.0.1 in your source. Replace with the real API URL or move to environment variables.

"My Tailwind isn't loading." Make sure Tailwind's content config includes ./src/**/*.{ts,tsx} and ./index.html. Bolt usually gets this right, but exports occasionally miss files.

"I want to keep iterating in Bolt but auto-redeploy." Connect Bolt to a GitHub repository. Bolt handles the Git steps itself and syncs each change, so pointing VibeDeploy at that repository gives you an automatic redeploy on every iteration.

Where to go next

For tool-agnostic deploy patterns: How to deploy AI-built websites in 2026.

For an honest comparison between Netlify, which Bolt still integrates with, and EU hosting: VibeDeploy vs Netlify.

For the deploy walkthrough specifically: /for/bolt.