1 · Get on GitHub · cartwright

Create a free GitHub account and install the one tool that puts your shop online.

GitHub is where your shop's code will live. It's free, and you'll use the same account for everything from here on.

Create a free GitHub account.

Go to github.com/signup and follow the prompts (email, password, username). Pick a username you're happy with — it shows up in your repository's web address.

Your username becomes part of your code's address, like github.com/yourname/my-shop. Short and lowercase is nice, but anything works.
Install the tool you'll use to publish your code.

Download GitHub Desktop — a friendly app with buttons, no commands:

Go to desktop.github.com and download it for Mac or Windows.
Open it and click Sign in to GitHub.com — use the account you just made.

That's everything. GitHub Desktop is all you need for the no-terminal path.

Install git (the version-control tool) and optionally the GitHub CLI (gh, which automates creating the repo):

# macOS (Homebrew)
brew install git gh

# Windows (winget)
winget install Git.Git GitHub.cli

Then log in to GitHub from the terminal:

gh auth login

Pick GitHub.com → HTTPS → Login with a web browser and follow the link. Done.

Why bother with GitHub at all?

Two reasons. First, it's a backup with history — every change is saved, and you can roll back to any earlier version of your shop. Second, it's the trigger for going live — once Vercel is connected (next steps), publishing a change is as simple as saving it to GitHub.

Next: Step 2 — Publish your shop.