How to add an app development agency when your code is in ChatGPT, Claude or Grok

Before you start

• You make the repository, and you add us. Claude Code on the web works only in a repository that already exists, and none of these tools says it can add a collaborator for you.
• Keep secrets out. Never paste passwords or API keys into the files, the prompts or GitHub. List the names of the keys the app needs in the README, and we’ll ask for the values separately if we need them.

The route that works from any chat

This works for ChatGPT, Claude, Grok or any other chat. You need a GitHub account; if you don’t have one, create it at github.com first.

1. Open the chat where you built the app and paste Prompt 1. It asks for every file, with the folder each one goes in.

   Prompt 1: · every file, with its path

   Copy

   I’m not a developer, and I want to move the app we built in this chat into a GitHub repository so a development agency can work on it.
   
   1. List every file the app needs, with its full path from the project’s top folder (for example: src/App.jsx, package.json). Include setup files such as package.json, not only the code.
   2. Then give me the complete, final version of each file, one code block per file, with its path written on the line just above the block. Don’t shorten anything, don’t leave any file out, and don’t write “rest unchanged” or “same as before”.
   3. If you can create files, also give me one downloadable .zip with the same folders and files.
   4. Finish with a list of anything missing or assumed: settings, packages to install, outside services the app uses, and secret keys. For keys, give me the names only, never the values.
   
   If everything won’t fit in one reply, stop at the end of a file and tell me to type “continue”.

   Screenshot: a chat reply listing the app’s files with their full paths, then the first file’s code block

   Screenshot coming

2. Save the files on your computer. If the chat gave you a .zip, download it and unzip it. Otherwise make a folder for the app; for each file, make the folders its path names (for src/App.jsx, a folder called src), paste the code block into a plain-text editor, and save it with exactly the name shown, including the part after the dot.

3. Paste Prompt 2 into the same chat, and save its answer as README.md in the app’s top folder.

   Prompt 2: · a plain-language README

   Copy

   Write a README.md for this app in plain language. Cover:
   - what the app does;
   - what needs to be installed to run it;
   - the exact steps to run it;
   - the settings and secret keys it needs (names only, no values);
   - what’s unfinished or broken.
   
   Use only what’s in the files. Where you can’t tell, write “unknown”. Give me the whole file in one code block.

4. On GitHub, click + at the upper right, then New repository. Leave Owner as your own account, type a Repository name, choose Private, tick Add README, and click Create repository.

   Screenshot: GitHub’s new repository form with Owner, Repository name, Private and Add README

   Screenshot coming

5. In the new repository, click Add file → Upload files. Drag in everything inside your app folder, including your README.md, which replaces GitHub’s placeholder. Type a short message such as “Add app code” and commit the upload.

   Screenshot: GitHub’s Upload files page with the app’s files dragged in and a commit message

   Screenshot coming

6. Go to Settings, then Collaborators (under Access in the sidebar), and click Add people.

   Screenshot: a GitHub repository’s Settings, Collaborators page, with Add people

   Screenshot coming

7. Type the-app-agency, pick it, and confirm with Add the-app-agency to your repository. GitHub emails us the invitation, and we accept it.

   Screenshot: GitHub’s Add people dialog with the-app-agency selected

   Screenshot coming

8. Optional, and it saves time: paste Prompt 3 into the chat and email the answer to hey@theappagency.com, so we know what you were in the middle of.

   Prompt 3: · a hand-off note for us

   Copy

   Summarise this app for a developer who’s taking it over. Cover what it does, the tech it uses, where its data is stored, which outside services and keys it depends on (names only, never values), what works, what doesn’t, and the last thing we were trying to fix.

With Claude Code on the web

Claude Code on the web can commit the files for you and open a pull request. It needs a paid Claude plan (Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise), and it works only in a repository that already exists.

1. Create the private repository first, with Add README ticked, as in step 4 above.

2. Go to claude.ai/code, click Sign in with GitHub, install the Claude GitHub App on that repository, and pick the repository.

   Screenshot: Claude Code on the web after Sign in with GitHub, choosing the repository

   Screenshot coming

3. Paste or attach your app’s files (Prompt 1 gets them from your chat), then paste Prompt 4.

   Prompt 4: · commit it for me

   Copy

   This repository is empty apart from a README. I’m giving you the files for my app.
   
   1. Create each file at the path it’s listed under.
   2. Replace README.md with a plain-language one: what the app does, how to run it, which settings and secret keys it needs (names only), and what’s unfinished.
   3. Commit with the message “Add app code from chat” and open a pull request into main.
   
   Don’t delete anything else, don’t change any repository settings, and never put passwords or keys in any file. When you’re done, give me the link to the pull request.

4. When Claude has pushed its branch, click Create PR. Then open the pull request on GitHub and merge it.

   Screenshot: a Claude Code on the web session that has pushed a branch, with Create PR

   Screenshot coming

5. Add @the-app-agency as a collaborator, as in steps 6–7 above. Claude doesn’t do this part for you.

The GitHub option inside an ordinary Claude chat (+ → Add from GitHub) only reads files into the conversation. It doesn’t save your app to GitHub.

With Codex in ChatGPT

Codex, ChatGPT’s coding agent, can commit to a GitHub repository you connect and open a pull request. Codex on the web needs ChatGPT Plus or above, and it works on a repository you choose when you set it up.

1. Create the private repository first, with Add README ticked, as in step 4 above.

2. Open Codex, connect your GitHub account, choose that repository, and click Get started.

   Screenshot: Codex setup with GitHub connected, the repository chosen and Get started

   Screenshot coming

3. Give Codex your app’s files and paste Prompt 4 (above). When it’s done, open the pull request it made and merge it on GitHub.

   Screenshot: a finished Codex task with its pull request

   Screenshot coming

4. Add @the-app-agency as a collaborator, as in steps 6–7 above.

With Grok Build

If you built the app with Grok Build, which is on every Grok plan on the web and on mobile, it can export the whole project to a GitHub repository. Then add @the-app-agency to that repository, as in steps 6–7 above. If your code is in an ordinary Grok chat, use the route that works from any chat.

Screenshot: Grok Build’s export to GitHub for a project

Screenshot coming

Good to know

• Chats sometimes leave a file out. Prompt 1 ends with a list of what’s missing or assumed: read it before you upload.
• GitHub’s browser upload takes up to 100 files at a time, and each file can be up to 25 MiB. For a bigger app, upload a folder at a time.
• If the repository belongs to a GitHub organization rather than your personal account, access works differently. Email hey@theappagency.com and we’ll walk you through it.

Removing our access

When your audit is done, we remove ourselves where your platform lets us. You can remove us any time, too.

• GitHub: in the repository’s Settings → Collaborators, remove the-app-agency. The repository and your files stay where they are.

Questions people ask