FAQ

Reference

This page answers the questions merchants ask most, with the exact behavior from the shipped product. Each answer states a fact and points to the page or setting that backs it. If you want a step by step instead of an answer, start with Quickstart.

Do I need to know how to code?

No. You describe what you sell in plain language and the AI writes the code. You type a prompt in the workspace chat, the AI generates a Next.js project, and a live preview updates as it works. See How it works and Prompting.

You can read and edit the generated files if you want to. The workspace has a code viewer, and every project is a normal Next.js codebase you can clone and run locally. Editing by hand is optional, not required.

Who owns the generated code?

You do. MaShop pushes the code to a private GitHub repository in your account named mashop-{slug}, and it deploys to your Netlify, connected to your Supabase project. MaShop runs the builder where you generate and edit the project; it does not host your live site, your customers, or your orders.

When you connect GitHub, Supabase, and Netlify, each provider hands MaShop a scoped access token stored encrypted in your account. MaShop uses those tokens to create infrastructure on your behalf and writes the results to your own projects. See Connect services and Your code.

Where does my site run once it is live?

On Netlify. Publishing provisions a Supabase project, pushes the code to your GitHub repo, and triggers the first Netlify build. Redeploying an existing project ships a new build to the same Netlify site.

What is the difference between publishing and deploying?

Publishing is the first time you take a project live. It runs a resumable provisioning sequence: create your Supabase project, apply the backend migrations, create the GitHub repo and push the code, then trigger the first Netlify build. Deploying is every build after that, sent to the site that already exists.

Action	What runs	Who can trigger it
Publish	Full provisioning (Supabase project, migrations, GitHub repo, first Netlify build), advanced one bounded step per call while the workspace polls.	The project owner, on a paid plan.
Deploy	A new Netlify build for the linked GitHub repo.	The owner or an editor.

Publishing requires a paid plan. If an unpaid account triggers it, the server returns HTTP 402 with the code UPGRADE_REQUIRED. Deploying does not require a paid plan; the Free plan is capped instead (see the deploy limit below). See Deploy overview.

How many times can I deploy?

On the Free plan you get 3 deploys per day. The window is a rolling one day that resets on your next deploy after it elapses. Pro and Max are unlimited. The cap is checked and incremented in one locked database transaction (reserve_deploy_slot), so two near simultaneous deploys cannot both slip past it. When you hit the cap the deploy endpoint returns HTTP 402 and the workspace shows a toast rather than retrying. See Plans.

How do my customers pay me?

Through your own payment provider. When a customer buys on your live site, the payment goes to the provider you wired into your code; MaShop is never in that flow and cannot see your sales. Card details never pass through MaShop.

You choose the provider. The generated project ships a checkout placeholder that returns a clear error until you ask MaShop to wire your provider, and its credentials live in environment variables you set on your own Netlify site, never in MaShop. Ask in chat to wire the provider you want. See Custom API and integrations.

How does MaShop bill me, and what are credits?

You pay for the AI credits your generations consume. One credit is worth $0.01. There are three plans:

Plan	Price	Included credits	Deploys
Free	$0	None included; pay as you go via top-ups	3 per day
Pro	$20 per month	2,000 per month	Unlimited
Max	$100 per month	12,000 per month	Unlimited

You can top up any account with more credits. Top-ups run from $10 to $1,000, and larger amounts earn a bonus that rises in steps up to 25%. See Plans, Credits, and Top-ups.

Is there a free trial?

There are no free signup credits. New accounts start on a small trial, then pay as you go. The trial is a spendable budget, not a single generation: an unpaid account can run as many prompts as it likes until the cumulative real cost reaches a low cap, after which the workspace asks you to top up or upgrade before it runs another generation.

What happens when I run out of credits?

Generation stops with an insufficient credits message in the chat, and the workspace prompts you to top up or upgrade. Your project, files, and history are untouched. Add credits from Top-ups or move to a paid plan on Plans, and continue where you left off.

Where does my data live, and can MaShop see it?

Your customers, orders, files, and secrets live in your Supabase project, in the region you chose when you created it. MaShop holds no credentials to that project once it is provisioned in your own account. MaShop uses your prompts only to build and edit your project, and never sells them or shares them for advertising.

Your prompts and generated code are not sent to OpenAI or Anthropic. Inside the builder, every record is protected by row level security, so you reach only your own projects and the ones shared with you. See Your Supabase.

Can other people work on my project with me?

Yes. You invite collaborators by email and assign a role. There are three roles: owner, editor, and viewer. An editor can change the project and trigger deploys; a viewer has read access; the owner controls provisioning and billing. Roles are enforced on the server for every write. See Collaborators.

What kind of business can I build?

Any transactional business you can describe. A physical product shop, a restaurant with online ordering, a service with a booking calendar, a subscription box, a ticketed event, a digital download store, and more. There is no fixed list to pick from; you describe the business and the AI generates the shop for it. See What is MaShop.

Can I edit the code and the backend after generation?

Yes. Every project is a full Next.js codebase in your GitHub repo, and the AI can edit it from front to back, including the backoffice and its database tables, when you ask. You can also clone the repo and edit it in your own editor:

git clone https://github.com/<you>/mashop-<slug>.git
cd mashop-<slug>
npm install
npm run dev

Changes you push to GitHub deploy on the next Netlify build. See Code structure and Add a page.

Where do I go if something breaks?

Start with Troubleshooting for common errors and their fixes. If a generation produces a build error, the workspace can detect it and offer a fix; see Auto fix. For terms you do not recognize, see the Glossary.