Go live in one click. Bring your own domain when you're ready.

Publishing is deliberately anticlimactic — that's the point. When your site is ready, it goes live at a free Yoshi address instantly, and you can move it onto your own domain whenever you like, without rebuilding anything.

Claim it — the one moment you make an account

This is the only gate in the whole flow, and it lands here for a reason. You've already had the conversation, watched the egg fill, and previewed something that's unmistakably yours. Now you make a free account — and it does exactly three things: saves your egg (so you can come back to it), claims your address (so nobody else takes it), and publishes (so the world can see it).

That's the deal we think is fair: we earn the signup by delivering the thing first. No email wall on the homepage, no "start your free trial" before you've seen a single page. The funnel is hook → build → reflect → claim: the conversation hooks you, the build invests you, the preview reflects you back, and the account is how you keep it. (This is a deliberate decision — D36 in the register.)

Why not gate earlier? Because a signup wall in front of the magic kills the magic. The conversation is the demo; making someone register to see it would trade our single best moment for an email address. We'd rather they fall a little in love first. status: planned (the claim/auth flow is cycle 49 + cycle 57 egg-identity).

Three ways to be addressed

Yoshi grows with you, from "just show me it's live" to "this is my brand, end to end":

1. Free address — yourbusiness.yoshi.site. Every site gets a clean, instant subdomain. No DNS, no waiting, no cost. Perfect for "is this real?" and for sites that never need more. status: soon (tier-0 addressing; reserved-name policy shipped, DNS wiring in flight).

2. Your own domain — yourbusiness.com. Connect a domain you own (or one Yoshi helps you buy), and your site lives there with SSL handled for you. This is the real "it's mine" moment — and it's a reconnect, not a rebuild; the site doesn't change, only its address. status: planned (tier-1 custom-domain connect).

3. Your platform — white-label (builders/agencies). Run Yoshi-built sites entirely under your own brand for your clients. They never see "Yoshi"; they see you. status: planned (tier-2 reseller; the Studio endgame).

One name is sacred: yours. Yoshi reserves system names (admin, dashboard, api…) so nobody can squat them, and your chosen subdomain is checked for availability the moment you pick it. status: live (reserved-subdomain policy shipped, cycle 49).

What "published" actually means

Your site is static and global — pre-built pages served from a fast edge network, not a server that can fall over under traffic. That's why it's quick everywhere, cheap to run, and hard to break. You get a real, production site, not a preview link that expires.

The "Built with Yoshi" question

Free sites may carry a small, tasteful Built with Yoshi mark — the way the best tools earn growth by being seen. Paid tiers remove it. We'd rather earn your upgrade by being good than hold your site hostage. status: planned (the badge + tier mechanics; cycle 37/49 — and an open question below).

🌳 Open questions (the inquisitive seam)

• How free is the free tier, really? Does an unconnected *.yoshi.site site stay up forever, or sleep if abandoned? Forever-free is a powerful marketing surface (every live site is an ad); abandoned sites are a cost + a quality liability. Leaning: stays live, carries the badge, light dormancy after long inactivity. Decision; cross-ref cycle 37 cost-at-scale, 49 tier-0.
• Buy-a-domain in-flow? Selling the domain inside Yoshi (vs "go connect one from GoDaddy") removes the scariest step for a non-technical owner — but it's a real integration + support surface. Worth it? Leaning: yes, eventually — it's the difference between "a tool" and "done for you." Cross-ref 49 tier-1, 37 monetization.
• The badge: pride or tax? Is "Built with Yoshi" a mark of quality the owner is happy to show, or a thing they immediately want gone? The answer shapes whether it's a growth engine or a conversion blocker. Leaning: make it genuinely tasteful so free users don't mind it — design problem, not just a pricing lever. Curtis call.
• White-label depth (tier-2). How invisible is Yoshi to the builder's client — just the domain + badge, or a fully re-skinned dashboard, billing, and support under the builder's brand? This is the line between "reseller discount" and "platform." Parked but important; cross-ref cycle 2, 49 tier-2.
• Migration out. Can an owner export their site and leave? Saying "yes, it's yours, no lock-in" early builds enormous trust — and fits the ports-and-adapters stance. Leaning: yes — exportable static site. Decision; cross-ref cycle 29 (no CF-lock).