Never lose your AI-built code again

If your website was built with an AI tool like Lovable, Bolt, or Replit, the whole site lives inside that tool’s account. One bad AI change, a closed account, or a cancelled plan could cost you weeks of work. This guide shows you how to keep a safe copy, how to get your work back when something goes wrong, and a simple habit that keeps it safe from now on.

Before you start

• The login for the AI tool your site was built with.
• An email address for a free GitHub account. Use a business address you control, not one a freelancer or employee set up.
• About 30 minutes.

Want to do it yourself?

Difficulty

4 out of 10

Estimated completion time

30–60 minutes

Skills you’ll need: Use version history, copy files, and connect a GitHub account. Practise restoring a copy before relying on it.

I’ll do it myselfI’d rather get help

How this helps your brand

Keeping your site’s code and connected services recoverable protects the pages, enquiries, and booking routes your customers rely on. Ownership of those copies also makes changing tools or getting help easier.

1. 1

   Step 1: Know what you could lose

   Behind every website is code: the written instructions that tell a browser what to show. When an AI tool builds your site, it writes that code and stores it in your account with that tool.

   That means two different things can go wrong. An AI change can break or delete part of your site. Or you can lose the whole project, because an account is closed, a plan lapses, or the person who set it up leaves. The tool’s own history helps with the first. Only a copy somewhere else protects you from the second.

2. 2

   Step 2: Find your tool’s version history

   Most AI website tools save a version every time the AI makes a change. Depending on the tool, it may be called “history”, “versions”, or “checkpoints”. Find it now, before you need it.

   Open it and look at the list. You should see your recent changes, with times. Check that you can preview an older version, and find the button that restores one. You don’t need to restore anything now. Just know where it is.

   Tip: If your tool lets you name or bookmark a version, name the current one “Working, [today’s date]”. Named versions are much easier to find in a hurry.

3. 3

   Step 3: Keep a second copy on GitHub

   GitHub is a free service that stores a copy of your website’s code, along with every saved version. It’s the standard place to keep code safe, and most AI website tools can connect to it.

   Create a free GitHub account with your business email. Then, in your AI tool, look in the settings or the project menu for a GitHub option, and follow the steps to connect it. The steps change from time to time, so if you can’t find it, search the tool’s help pages for “GitHub”.

   Once connected, many tools send each change to GitHub automatically. Others need you to press a button to save or “sync”. Check which yours does.

   Keep a separate dependency list for anything the code connects to: form submissions, a database, bookings, uploaded files, email delivery, and domain settings. A GitHub copy usually protects source files; it does not by itself prove that those services or their customer records are included. Record the business-owned account for each service and its official export or recovery route. Keep secret values in private settings, not the repository.

   Tip: If someone else set up your site, make sure the GitHub copy is in an account you own. If it’s in theirs, ask them to transfer it to you. It’s your business’s work.

   Illustrated exampleKeep your code in two places you control

   Your website toolThe project you work in

   Save / sync

   Your GitHub accountA separate copy of the code

   Check that a recent change appears in both places.

4. 4

   Step 4: Check the copy is really there

   Log in to github.com and open your project. GitHub calls a project a “repository”. You’ll see a list of files and a date showing when it was last updated.

   Make a small change to your site in the AI tool, then check GitHub again. If the date updates, your copy is working. If it doesn’t, go back to your tool’s GitHub settings and look for a sync or push button.

   Illustrated exampleProve that a new change reached your copy

   In your AI toolOne small test change

   Change Saturday hours from 5 pm to 4 pm, then save or sync.

   Change

   Update Saturday hours

   Saved at

   10:32

   Open your repository on GitHub

   northline / websiteExample repository

   Latest saved changeUpdate Saturday hours

   10:32 · just now

   Before the test

   10:30

   After the test

   10:32

   The newer time shows that the copy received your test change. If it stays at 10:30, check your tool’s sync settings.

5. 5

   Step 5: Know how to get your work back

   Which fix you need depends on what went wrong.

   For a lost-account recovery, restore the code into a private test copy first, reconnect the required services with authorised settings, and restore any needed data using those services’ recovery process. Then submit a controlled enquiry or test booking and check the original record, notification, and follow-up access. A restored home page is only part of recovery if the business depends on the form or booking route. Ask a developer to resolve any missing service access rather than assuming the repository contains it.

   • The AI broke something: stop asking it to fix things. Open your tool’s version history and restore the last version that worked.
   • Something’s been broken for a while: look back through the version history, or the history on GitHub, to find when it last worked.
   • You’ve lost the project or the account: your GitHub copy has the full site. Most AI tools can import a project from GitHub, and any developer can work from it.

   Tip: Don’t ask the AI to “rebuild what was there”. It will guess, and the guess won’t match. Restore a saved version instead.

   Illustrated exampleFind the last version that worked

   First version readyYour starting point

   Saved

   Working before the redesignPreview this version before restoring

   Last working

   Redesign attemptThe menu stopped working here

   Problem starts

6. 6

   Step 6: Make saving a habit

   A safe copy is only useful if it’s recent. Build these into how you work:

   • After every change that works, check it, then name or bookmark that version.
   • Before a big change, like a new page or a redesign, save a named version first.
   • Once a week, check that GitHub shows a recent date.
   • Write down where your site’s code lives, which accounts it uses, and who has the logins. Keep it in a password manager or somewhere safe.

I built my website with [your AI tool] and I want to make sure I never lose it. I’m not technical, so please explain in plain English and don’t change anything on my site.

Please tell me:
1. Where my site’s code is stored right now.
2. How to see and restore an earlier version in [your AI tool].
3. How to connect this project to my own GitHub account, step by step, and whether changes will be saved there automatically or I need to do something each time.
4. How to check the GitHub copy is up to date.
5. How I’d get my site back if I lost access to this project.

If a step depends on menus that change often, tell me what to search for in the official help pages instead of guessing.

Distinguish what the code repository contains from external databases, submitted enquiries, booking records, uploads, email services, and private configuration. List each dependency’s owner and official export/recovery route without exposing secret values. Describe a private recovery test that restores the site and proves its main customer action reaches the expected record and recipient. Do not assume a code copy is a complete business-data backup.