Short, practical guides for the main things people do in Baumeister — from your first install to publishing with a custom domain.
Baumeister runs on your own Windows or Mac computer. There's nothing to configure before you open it.
Download and run the installer, then open Baumeister. Your dashboard launches right there — no separate setup to learn.
The first time you open it, you'll set a password for your dashboard. This is what protects Settings, your projects, and your server — keep it somewhere safe.
You'll land on Projects — your home base for everything you build and host.
Baumeister runs on the computer you already have — there's no special hardware to buy to get started.
Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. Any laptop or desktop from the last several years handles it fine for most personal and small business projects.
Apple silicon (M1 or later). Intel Macs aren't currently supported.
From Projects, click + New Project. You'll pick how you want to host it, then how you want to build it.
Describe what you want in plain English and the Baumeister Assistant builds it for you — no code needed. It runs on your own API key (see The AI Assistant).
Already have HTML, CSS, or images? Paste in the HTML or upload the files directly — great for a simple site with no backend.
Bring code that needs to actually run — a Python app built with Flask or FastAPI, or a Node.js app (Node.js needs to be installed on your computer). Baumeister detects the project type from your files.
The easiest path for a simple site — no servers to run, a free shareable link in seconds.
Open a project and click Publish — or Deploy first for apps that need to run continuously. There are two ways to make a project reachable from the internet.
Click Publish, pick a name, and your project is live at yourname.baumeister.host — no setup, and your first 3 addresses are free.
Click Use your own domain on the project page and follow the prompts — Connect with Cloudflare, pick the domain, and the DNS records are added for you (or add them yourself at your registrar if you prefer). SSL and routing are handled for you automatically once it's connected. Don't have one yet? Buy a domain at app.baumeister.host, with WHOIS privacy included free.
On the project page, turn on Safety Net and choose what visitors see while your computer is off, asleep or restarting: your site as you last published it, your front page served by Baumeister all the time, or a Back Soon page you write. Plain websites can stay up entirely; for apps, put the front page in a folder called public — forms, sign-ins and app pages wait for your computer. Safety Net covers your yourname.baumeister.host address and your own domain.
Baumeister keeps a safety net under everything the AI changes, and can keep your work on GitHub too.
A snapshot is saved automatically every time the AI changes your project — the last 20 are kept. Made a mistake? Open the project and click Restore on any earlier version. Your current version is snapshotted first, so a restore is never a one-way door.
On a project page, click Connect GitHub and sign in with a one-time code — no tokens to create. Push your project to GitHub to back it up and version it there, or pull the latest changes back down.
Once a project is on GitHub, enable push-to-deploy to get a signed webhook — pushing code redeploys the app automatically, and deliveries that aren't signed are ignored.
Every project has a Baumeister Assistant panel — describe what you want built or changed, and it writes and deploys the code. The assistant is free on every plan: it runs on your own key, and Baumeister doesn't sell AI.
Connect an API key from Anthropic (Claude), OpenAI (ChatGPT), xAI (Grok), or Google (Gemini) under Settings → AI Assistant & API keys. You're billed directly by your provider, with no limits and nothing added by Baumeister.
Where your install includes it, choose the Claude Agent — it reads and edits your project's files until the job is done, on your own Anthropic key. Or skip the panel and point Claude Code, Cursor, or Codex at the project's folder.
Baumeister is private by default — beyond the recovery email and computer name sent at setup, nothing about your computer is shared unless you turn it on.
In Settings, turn on remote monitoring to see memory, storage, and which projects are running from the Baumeister app on your phone. Off by default — while off, nothing about your computer is sent anywhere.
In Access → Remote Access, claim a remote address (a free .baumeister.host name used only for this) and set up an authenticator app on your phone. From then on you can open your dashboard from anywhere — signing in always takes your password and an authenticator code.
With Remote Access on, open Access, go to People you've invited → Invite someone, enter their email and choose the projects they can view or edit. They get their own sign-in, see only those projects, and can't run your apps' code or see your private files.
Share files straight from your computer through one of your websites — visitors see a list and download directly, with nothing copied to Baumeister's servers.
From File Sharing, name a collection and add the files you want to share.
Click Connect to my website, choose which project shows it, and approve the connection.
Set a password on a collection so only people you give it to can access those files. This protects the file collection itself. To protect a whole site instead, open the project and set a Visitor password under Advanced.
Can't find what you're looking for here, or think something's broken?
Click Ask a question at the bottom of any page. It answers about your own projects and error messages, and it's free.
Go to Settings → Feedback & support and click Send feedback. Every note gets read.
info@baumeisterprivateserver.com — for anything this page didn't cover.
Short setup walkthroughs on our YouTube channel — new and growing.
Send us a note and we'll get back to you — every message gets a real reply.
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