ditto.site turns a public URL into a self-contained TypeScript app. It captures what the browser actually rendered, then emits a deterministic Next.js App Router project by default, or Vite React when requested.
The compiler is not an LLM page author. It is a capture-to-code pipeline: same frozen capture in, byte-stable app out.
"Cloning" here means generating a codebase from a live URL — not
git clone. You don't need an existing repository, and you don't need the site's source. Point ditto.site at a public URL and it writes you a fresh project from what the page renders in a browser.
Read the public development and evaluation method in docs/METHODOLOGY.md. For a map of all the docs, see docs/README.md.
- REST API:
https://api.ditto.site - MCP server:
https://api.ditto.site/mcp
Get a hosted key at https://www.ditto.site/api-key, or call the verified-email
signup flow directly:
curl -sS -X POST "https://api.ditto.site/v1/signup/request" \
-H "content-type: application/json" \
-d '{"email":"[email protected]"}'The emailed verification link lands on /api-key?token=..., which calls
POST /v1/signup/verify and displays the new dtto_live_... key once.
Keys are secrets. Put your key in an environment variable (
export DITTO_API_KEY=dtto_live_...) and reference$DITTO_API_KEYin every command — never paste the raw key inline, where it lands in shell history, logs, or a chat. Don't commit it. You can rotate a key anytime from the dashboard.
Start a clone job:
export DITTO_API_URL="https://api.ditto.site"
export DITTO_API_KEY="ditto_live_example"
curl -sS -X POST "$DITTO_API_URL/v1/clones" \
-H "authorization: Bearer $DITTO_API_KEY" \
-H "content-type: application/json" \
-d '{
"url": "https://example.com/",
"options": {
"mode": "single",
"styling": "tailwind",
"framework": "next"
}
}'The service returns either a queued job or an inline result. A finished result is a file map — every generated file keyed by its app-relative path:
{
"jobId": "job_123",
"status": "succeeded",
"files": {
"package.json": { "type": "text", "content": "{ ... }", "bytes": 812, "sha256": "..." },
"src/app/page.tsx": { "type": "text", "content": "export default ...", "bytes": 2048, "sha256": "..." },
"public/assets/logo.png": { "type": "binary", "url": ".../files/public/assets/logo.png", "bytes": 5123, "sha256": "..." }
}
}Turn that JSON into a project on disk with the official unpacker — from a
checked-out ditto.site repo with dependencies installed, pipe the response
straight in with no temp file:
curl -sS -X POST "$DITTO_API_URL/v1/clones" \
-H "authorization: Bearer $DITTO_API_KEY" \
-H "content-type: application/json" \
-d '{"url":"https://example.com/","options":{"mode":"single"}}' \
| npm run --silent unpack -- - ./outnpm run unpack -- <clone.json|-> <out-dir> writes the text files inline and
materializes binary assets (inline base64, or fetched from their url using
$DITTO_API_URL / $DITTO_API_KEY). The CLI package is repo-local until the
npm distribution story is ready, so do not use npx ditto yet. See
packages/cli for options.
If you got back a queued job ({ "jobId": "job_123", "status": "queued" }),
poll it, then unpack the finished result — or download the whole app as one
archive:
JOB_ID="job_123"
# poll status, then unpack the finished file map
curl -sS -H "authorization: Bearer $DITTO_API_KEY" \
"$DITTO_API_URL/v1/clones/$JOB_ID/result" \
| npm run --silent unpack -- - ./out
# ...or grab the whole app as a single archive
curl -L -H "authorization: Bearer $DITTO_API_KEY" \
"$DITTO_API_URL/v1/clones/$JOB_ID/bundle?format=tgz" \
-o ditto-clone.tgzUseful options:
| Option | Values | Default |
|---|---|---|
mode |
single, multi |
single |
styling |
tailwind, css |
tailwind |
framework |
next, vite |
next |
verify |
true, false |
false |
asyncVerify |
true, false |
false |
maxRoutes |
number | service default |
REST endpoints:
| Method | Path | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
POST |
/v1/clones |
Start a clone |
GET |
/v1/clones/:id |
Read job status and metadata |
GET |
/v1/clones/:id/result |
Read the eager file map |
GET |
/v1/clones/:id/files/* |
Stream one generated file |
GET |
/v1/clones/:id/bundle?format=tgz |
Download the whole app |
DELETE |
/v1/clones/:id |
Delete a clone and its artifacts |
Connect an MCP client to the hosted Streamable HTTP endpoint:
{
"mcpServers": {
"ditto": {
"url": "https://api.ditto.site/mcp",
"headers": {
"Authorization": "Bearer ${DITTO_API_KEY}"
}
}
}
}The MCP server is designed for agents. It returns job ids, metadata, manifests, and file references first, then lets the agent read only the files it needs.
Core MCP tools:
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
clone_website |
Start a clone and return { jobId, status } |
get_clone_status |
Poll job progress |
get_clone_result |
Read result metadata without file contents |
list_clone_files |
List generated file paths, sizes, and hashes |
read_clone_files |
Read selected text files or binary URLs |
get_clone_bundle |
Get a download URL for the generated app |
Example agent prompt:
Use the ditto MCP server to clone https://example.com as a Next.js app.
Wait for the job to finish, list the generated files, then read package.json,
src/app/page.tsx, and src/app/ditto.css.
# this git clone gets the ditto.site tool itself — the URL you clone into a
# codebase comes later, as the argument to `npm run clone`.
git clone https://github.com/ion-design/ditto.site.git
cd ditto.site
npm ci
npx playwright install chromium
npm run clone -- https://example.com/ --out=./outputThe generated app lands under output/<site>/app. On success the CLI prints a
copy-paste-safe summary — a single quoted cd … && npm install && npm run dev
line and pointers to the safe-to-edit files (src/app/content.ts,
src/app/components/; the app's AGENTS.md has the full guide).
To skip the copy-paste entirely and go straight to a running preview:
npm run clone -- https://example.com/ --serve # clone, npm install, npm run dev
npm run clone -- https://example.com/ --open # ...and open the browser tooCommon local variants:
npm run clone -- https://example.com/ --mode=multi
npm run clone -- https://example.com/ --styling=css
npm run clone -- https://example.com/ --framework=vite
npm run validate-site -- runs/site-example.com/<timestamp>Without --out, runs land under runs/<site>/<timestamp>/ and a stable
runs/<site>/latest symlink always points at the newest clone, so scripts and
cd targets don't depend on the timestamp.
Quick inline mode, with no database:
npm ci
npx playwright install chromium
SSRF_ALLOW_LOOPBACK=true npm run dev:apiThen call the local REST API:
curl -sS -X POST "http://localhost:8787/v1/clones" \
-H "content-type: application/json" \
-d '{"url":"https://example.com/","options":{"mode":"single"}}'For the queued service with Postgres and MinIO:
docker compose up -d
cp .env.example .env
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/ditto_site \
npm run db:migrate
npm run dev:api
npm run dev:workerThe local MCP endpoint is http://localhost:8787/mcp.
A generated app includes:
- a runnable Next.js or Vite React project,
- reconstructed pages and route modules,
- captured assets, fonts, icons, manifest files, and metadata,
robots,sitemap,llms.txt, and JSON-LD when discoverable,- small
dittoruntime helpers for recognized interactions and motion, - generated
AGENTS.mdandARCHITECTURE.mdhandoff docs.
Delivery output is under generated/app/ during validation and under
<out>/<site>/app for CLI delivery.
URL
-> browser capture
-> normalized render IR
-> deterministic inference
-> app generation
-> asset materialization
-> optional validation
Capture records DOM, computed styles, layout boxes, source metadata, CSS, fonts, assets, screenshots, interaction states, and reproducible motion where it can be observed safely. Unsupported app logic, auth, payments, personalization, and arbitrary third-party JavaScript are not replayed.
For the detailed service API, see docs/SERVICE.md. For deployment, see docs/DEPLOY.md. For the development method behind the compiler, see docs/METHODOLOGY.md.
Hosted deployments should keep /v1/clones* and /mcp behind API-key auth.
When SIGNUP_ENABLED=true in DB mode, the Resend-backed
POST /v1/signup/request and POST /v1/signup/verify flow can publicly mint
dtto_live_... keys from verified email links while storing only key hashes.
Keep SIGNUP_DIRECT_ENABLED=false in production unless direct unauthenticated
minting is intentional.
| Path | Purpose |
|---|---|
compiler/ |
deterministic capture, inference, generation, and validation |
packages/core/ |
compiler adapter and file-map helpers |
packages/cli/ |
ditto CLI — unpack a clone result JSON into a project tree |
packages/api/ |
Hono REST API and MCP server |
packages/db/ |
Drizzle schema, migrations, repository, and queue wrapper |
packages/storage/ |
local and S3/R2 artifact storage |
packages/worker/ |
queued clone runner and optional verification |
docs/ |
methodology, service, deployment, release, and responsible-use docs |
examples/ |
benchmark results and visual evidence |
Use ditto.site only where you have the right to inspect, copy, transform, and operate on the target content. Do not use it for phishing, impersonation, credential capture, bypassing access controls, or high-volume third-party capture without permission.
npm ci
npx playwright install chromium
npm run typecheck
npm testBrowser tests require Chromium. Postgres-backed tests use TEST_DATABASE_URL or
the local compose stack. Changes that alter compiler output should include a
focused fixture or benchmark note.
The repository is MIT-licensed open source. The npm workspaces are intentionally
marked private until the package boundaries are ready for public npm
publishing.
See CONTRIBUTING.md, SECURITY.md, SUPPORT.md, and CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md.
MIT © ion-design and contributors.