This Step Is Not About Learning Technical Details

In the previous step, you did something simple: started Codex in an empty folder and gave it a clear first prompt.

Now Codex should be doing the setup. It may create files, install dependencies, run a preview command, and give you a local address.

You do not need to understand every file yet. First do only three things:

  1. Open the local preview.
  2. Check whether the pages are clear to an ordinary reader.
  3. Confirm that private information did not appear.

If Codex Has Not Started Creating Files

If Codex only gave you a plan and has not created the first version yet, say:

You can start creating the first version with this plan.

Please choose the directory structure and technical approach yourself.
My only requirements are:
- keep version one simple;
- make it possible to preview locally;
- include a home page, about page, work or writing list, and contact page;
- do not include real private information; use placeholder text where content is missing;
- when done, tell me the local preview address and which pages I should check first.

This is more natural than asking the reader to create many folders by hand. Codex should create the first structure, and the reader can understand it gradually.

If Codex Asks To Run Commands

Codex may say it needs to run commands such as:

npm install
npm run dev
npm run build

A beginner does not need to learn those commands first. Ask:

Please explain in one sentence what this command does.
If it is for installing website dependencies, opening a local preview, or checking the site, continue.

You need the general meaning, not memorization.

Open The Local Preview

When Codex finishes, it will usually give you an address such as:

http://localhost:4321/

or:

http://localhost:5173/

Copy that address into your browser.

If it does not open, do not guess. Paste the exact error back to Codex:

I hit this error while opening the local preview:

paste the error here

Please explain what it means in ordinary language, then suggest the smallest fix.

Do Not Judge Beauty First

When the page first opens, do not start with “beautiful” or “ugly.”

Check whether it works:

  • The home page opens.
  • Navigation links work.
  • The about page explains who you are.
  • The work or writing list is understandable.
  • The contact page has no wrong contact method.
  • Text does not collapse on a phone-sized screen.
  • No real address, identity document, child’s school, client file, contract, or backend screenshot appears.

It is fine if version one is not beautiful. The bigger problem is a version that is too complex, confusing, or risky to publish.

Ask Codex To Check It Like A Beginner

Send:

Please check this version using beginner-friendly standards.

List:
1. which pages currently exist;
2. what each page is trying to say;
3. which text is clearly placeholder content that I should replace later;
4. whether anything may leak private information;
5. whether anything is hard to read on mobile, broken, or visually distorted;
6. what is needed next if I want to publish it to a free web address.

Only inspect and explain for now. Do not publish yet.

This turns “I do not know what to look at” into a concrete checklist.

Done Means This

This step is complete when:

  • you opened the website in your browser;
  • you roughly know where the home, about, list, and contact pages are;
  • placeholder content is fine, but you know what needs replacement later;
  • no private information appears;
  • Codex told you the next steps for publishing to a free address.

If those are true, version one worked.

Do not seek perfection here. The important shift is that the website is no longer a distant technical word. It is already running on your computer.

If you arrived here from a single article, return to Your first personal website with Codex for the full route.