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How It Works

You can publish to SimpleHost without an API key. Anonymous sites:
  • Are live immediately at slug.simplehost.dev
  • Expire in 24 hours automatically
  • Come with a claim token to make them permanent later
  • Are rate limited to 5 requests per hour per IP

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Publish Anonymously

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With the script

Just don’t set SIMPLEHOST_API_KEY: 
./publish.sh ./my-site

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With the API

Omit the Authorization header: 
curl -X POST https://simplehost.dev/api/v1/publish \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "files": [
      {"path": "index.html", "size": 512, "contentType": "text/html"}
    ]
  }'

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Response

The response includes extra fields for anonymous publishes: 
{
  "slug": "bright-canvas-a7k2",
  "siteUrl": "https://bright-canvas-a7k2.simplehost.dev/",
  "claimToken": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
  "claimUrl": "https://simplehost.dev/claim?slug=bright-canvas-a7k2&token=550e8400...",
  "expiresAt": "2026-03-21T20:00:00.000Z",
  "anonymous": true,
  "warning": "IMPORTANT: Save the claimToken and claimUrl. Returned only once.",
  "upload": { ... }
}
Save the claimToken immediately. It is returned only once and cannot be retrieved later. You need it to claim the site.

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Claim a Site

To make an anonymous site permanent, claim it with your API key and the claim token: 
curl -X POST https://simplehost.dev/api/v1/publish/bright-canvas-a7k2/claim \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sh_live_your_key_here" \
  -d '{"claimToken": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"}'
After claiming:
  • The site no longer expires
  • It appears in your dashboard
  • You can update, delete, and manage it normally

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Use Cases

  • Quick demos — Share a prototype without signing up
  • CI previews — Generate deploy previews in PRs
  • One-off sharing — Share a file for a day, it cleans up automatically
  • Try before committing — Test SimpleHost before creating an account