Connecting a site

The free local workbench is complete on its own. Connecting a site is the explicit step that adds the hosted side - scheduled scans that run while your computer is off, alert email and signed webhooks, and shareable reports - for one production environment. Nothing here happens implicitly: you activate, you prove you control the domain, and you approve the first sync.

Activate the connected service

Open Settings → Connected and click Activate with Your License. Activation uses the same license from Settings → Account & Billing; the connected service is part of the paid tier.

Create the connected site

Enter the production URL and click Create Connected Site. That registers the site with the service and hands you an ownership challenge. Nothing is scanned until you verify.

Prove you control the domain

The ownership card shows a Value to publish and accepts proof through whichever method suits your setup:

• Verify DNS Record - publish the value as a DNS TXT record on the domain. The card shows exactly what to publish and where.
• Verify Well-Known File - serve the value from a well-known path on the site itself. Useful when DNS is slow to touch or owned by someone else.
• Verify Through Provider - if you’ve connected a hosting provider, pick the provider project serving this domain and verify through it directly. Provider-verified sites also get their deploys reported automatically.

Until the challenge is found, the card reads “Not verified yet.” Once any method succeeds: “Ownership proved,” and the next step lights up.

Inspect, then sync

The Connection card states the contract: SiteCMD can sync inspected findings and lifecycle changes for this production environment, and nothing leaves this desktop until a site connection is imported and you approve a sync.

Inspect Payload shows you the exact serialized payload a sync would send - the same inspector logic the CLI’s connected --dry-run uses - before anything is transmitted. Sync Now sends it. The fields a sync can ever contain are documented under Privacy & data.

After the first sync, the hosted features are live: set up scheduled scans, alert destinations, and shareable reports.

CI credentials

The CI Gate Credential card mints the site-scoped token that sitecmd gate and sitecmd connected --submit use in pipelines. The token is shown once and stored only as a hash. Fill in Repository and Trusted workflow to pin it for verified GitHub Actions provenance; a token without pins still works in unattested mode. Create Encrypted Export produces the credential-free connection export those commands read, protected by a passphrase you choose. The details live in the CLI reference.

Moving, pausing, leaving

• Transfer Connection moves the site’s connection to another desktop: create the encrypted transfer payload here, then use Import Connection on the new machine with the payload, its passphrase, and the installation token.
• Unlink This Desktop stops this machine from syncing the site. The connected site itself keeps running; Resume Watching This Site undoes it.
• Erase Site Data permanently deletes the site’s remote state immediately, and the app shows a deletion receipt once - keep it. Your local data stays. Unlinking without erasing starts the connected service’s 30-day deletion period instead; Privacy & data has the details.