The Dashboard
Your projects, creating a project, the project menu, and the Connections panel for AI agents, dev environments and deployments.
The Dashboard
The dashboard at phantomstudio.app/dashboard is where you land after signing in. It lists your projects on the left and your connected services on the right, in the Connections panel.
PhantomStudio needs your GitHub account to create repositories and run deployments. Until it's linked, the dashboard shows Connect GitHub Account instead of your projects.
Your projects
Each project is one row. From left to right:
- A status dot for the project's development environment.
- The name, the WordPress site title if one is connected, the GitHub repository, and where the project runs: Docker (local), Cloud (Fly.io) or Codespace.
- Status badges: the environment (Running, Starting, Stopping, Stopped, Not set up, Error), and the live site when it's deployed (Live, Building, Deploy error).
- The main action, which depends on the environment:
- Open Editor when the environment is running.
- Start Locally for a local Docker project that isn't running. It opens the Docker command to start it.
- Create Env or Start Env for a Codespaces project without a running codespace.
- Environment controls: Stop container or Start container for Fly.io, Refresh status and Docker commands for local Docker, Turn off environment for a running codespace.
- Visit live site and GitHub links, and the ⋯ menu.
Above the list, search by project name, repository or WordPress site title, and filter by All, Running, Inactive or Deployed.
A local Docker project only opens once its container answers. If Open Editor keeps saying "Connecting...", run the Docker command and allow local network access when the browser asks. See Docker Local Development.
Creating a project
Click New Project. The Create New Project page has three parts.
Project
- Create Method: Start Fresh (a new project from a template), Duplicate (a byte-for-byte copy of one of your projects) or From GitHub URL (regenerates a project from a repository that has a
.phantomwp.jsonmanifest, with fresh infrastructure; custom code isn't copied). - Repository Name: the GitHub repository PhantomStudio creates.
- Private Repository: on by default. Only you and the collaborators you choose can see the repository.
Template (Start Fresh only)
- Starter, Minimal Starter or WooCommerce Store (alpha). See WooCommerce Setup for the store template.
- CSS approach: Tailwind CSS or CSS. WooCommerce stores use Tailwind.
Development environment
- Local (Docker), the recommended default: the dev server runs on your computer.
- Under Other environments: Cloud (Fly.io) on your own Fly.io account (connect it first, see below) and GitHub Codespaces.
The button at the bottom says what happens next, for example Create & Run Locally. For local projects, PhantomStudio then shows the docker run command to paste into your terminal.
Connecting WordPress, Sanity or other data comes later, inside the editor. See Connecting WordPress.
The project ⋯ menu
The ⋯ menu on a project row holds everything that isn't the main action. Items appear only when they apply:
| Item | When it shows | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy to Vercel / Deploy to Cloudflare | That provider is connected and isn't the project's current one | Creates the deployment, or switches the project to that provider |
| Manage Domains | The project is live on Vercel | Add and verify custom domains |
| Vercel Dashboard / Cloudflare Dashboard | The project is deployed | Opens the project at the provider |
| Run Locally (Docker) | The project runs on Codespaces | Switches it to local Docker and shows the setup command |
| Run in Cloud | The project runs on Codespaces and Fly.io is connected | Creates a Fly.io machine for it |
| Destroy Container | The project runs on Fly.io | Deletes its Fly.io machine |
| Remove Codespace | The project still has a codespace | Deletes the codespace |
| Update container | Local Docker project | Shows the command that moves the container to the latest image |
| Remove Container | Local Docker project | Shows how to remove the local container |
| Remove from Dashboard | Always | Removes the project from PhantomStudio. The GitHub repository and codespace are not deleted |
Update container
When a release ships a new local Docker image, the changelog says so ("Local Docker container 1.22.0: Update container in the project's ⋯ menu"). The dialog shows the version you're moving to and a command to paste in your terminal. It pulls the new image, removes the old container and starts a new one on the same ports and storage, so your project files and uncommitted work are kept. If the container is already on the latest version, nothing changes.
Older projects that never recorded where their files are stored first ask you to confirm the storage. See Updating Your Container for the details.
Connections
The Connections panel on the right lists every service PhantomStudio works with, one row each with its status and one action. The header counts how many are connected, and the gear icon opens your account settings.
AI agents
MCP server › Connect opens Connect AI Agent. Pick Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor or Other, then Generate connection. The agent gets access to all your projects: it can list and create projects, set them up in local Docker and check that they're running. The access token is shown once; the same dialog lists your tokens with Revoke.
To give an agent one project instead, use Help ▾ › Connect AI Agent in that project's editor. See AI Agents (MCP).
Dev environments
- GitHub Codespaces is always available through your GitHub sign-in. The row shows how many codespaces you have, how many are active, and your plan. The info icon shows plan limits; the link opens your codespaces on GitHub.
- Cloud (Fly.io) shows Set up until you add your Fly.io API key in account settings.
Deployments
Vercel and Cloudflare Workers, each with Connect or, once connected, "Auto-deploys on push" and Disconnect. Connecting here saves your provider token for the account. Then deploy a project from its ⋯ menu (Deploy to Vercel or Deploy to Cloudflare) or from the editor's Publish ▾ menu.
Disconnecting removes the token from PhantomStudio. It doesn't delete anything at the provider.
See Deploying to Vercel and Deploying to Cloudflare Workers.
Next steps
- Quick Start: create a project and make your first edit
- Docker Local Development: run a project on your machine
- Publishing: get your changes live