--- title: "Your site's code | Briks" url: https://briks.dev/docs/code description: "Browse, edit and publish your site's code in the File Explorer on every plan. On a paid plan, download any version as a zip, and see what it leaves out." last_updated: 2026-10-08 --- # Your site's code Briks writes real code for every site, and it's yours to read. The File Explorer shows the files written for your site as the live version holds them. People with edit rights can change them and publish, on every plan. On a paid plan, anyone in the workspace can also download them as a zip. 6 minute read Checked against the studio on 8 October 2026 ## Open the File Explorer Where 1. Projects 2. Your project 3. Settings 4. File Explorer It has two views: **Files**, where you read and edit, and **Settings**, where you download on a paid plan. The heading says which version is live, for example “The code written for this site, as version 14 is live.” Until the site has been published there's nothing to show, and the page says “Nothing published yet”. ## Browse the files Folders and files sit in a tree on the left, folders first, each in name order. Type in **Filter files** to narrow the list by name or folder. Underneath, a count reads something like “38 files written for this site”. The first file opened is `content/site.ts`, which holds the site's main facts. | Folder | What's in it | | --- | --- | | `app/` | The site's pages, one folder for each page address. | | `components/custom/` | The sections written for your site, such as its hero, services list and footer. | | `content/` | The site's words and facts. | | `public/` | Files the site serves as they are. | | `api/` | The site's own server code, if it has any. | | `db/` | The shape of the site's data, if it stores any. | Click a file to read it with line numbers. **Wrap lines** stops long lines running off the side, and **Copy** puts the whole file on your clipboard. Pictures and other files that aren't text are listed but not shown, and they're part of the download on a paid plan. ## Edit a file and publish it Editors, Admins and Owners get an editor when they open a file. Viewers see every file read only. 1. Open the file Where: Files Click it in the tree. The editor opens with its text. 2. Make your edit Where: Editor Type as in any code editor. The file is marked **Edited**, and its folder shows a dot while closed. **Undo changes** puts one file back as it was. 3. Add or delete files if needed Where: Files **New file** asks for a path inside `app/`, `components/custom/`, `content/`, `api/`, `db/` or `public/`. **Delete** marks a file for removal, and **Keep file** changes your mind. 4. Save and publish Where: Editor Press **Save and publish** in the bar at the bottom, or Ctrl+S (⌘S on a Mac). The dialog lists every changed file. 5. Add a note Where: Dialog Optionally say what changed in **Note**. It's kept in the version history. 6. Confirm Where: Dialog Press **Save and publish**. The bar reads, for example, “Publishing 2 changed files.” with a link to follow it in the Studio. Edits live only in this tab Until you publish, your changes exist only in this browser tab. Leaving the page asks “Leave without publishing?”, and closing the tab discards them. The live site isn't touched until you publish. ## What happens after you save Briks builds the site with your files and publishes it, usually within a few minutes. Nothing is redesigned or rewritten, and no credits are held or charged. The Studio shows **Verifying build** and **Publishing**, then a reply such as “Your code changes are live: 2 files changed in the File Explorer. Nothing else about the site changed.” Back in the File Explorer, a green bar says “Your changes are published and live.” with **Open the site**. The save becomes a new version marked **Change**, so the undo arrow above the preview takes it back. Changes you ask for in the conversation later start from your edited files. Changes published from the [Visual Editor](https://briks.dev/docs/visual-editor) are written into these same files, so you see them here once they are live. If your code doesn't build, nothing is published and the live site stays as it was. A red box says “Nothing was published”, names the file it stopped in and shows the build's own lines underneath. Your edits are still there: press the **Open** button for that file to jump to the line, fix it and publish again. | Limit | Amount | | --- | --- | | Files in one save | 50 | | One file you can edit | 256 KB (bigger files are shown read only) | | All the changes in one save | 2 MB | | The note | 300 characters | A save is refused, with the reason, if the site changed since you opened the page (“The site changed since you opened it: reload to see the new version.”), while something is building, or while an A/B test runs. A few files are written by the studio before every build, so they can't be changed here, and the File Explorer says so if you try. ## Download the code Downloading the code comes with a paid plan. On Free, the **Download code** button and the **Download** buttons in **Backups** are not shown. A note says “Downloading the code comes with a paid plan.”, and **See what's included** opens the upgrade window on **Download your site's code**. Browsing and editing the files stay open on every plan. 1. Go to the Settings view Where: File Explorer Open **Settings**, **File Explorer**, then the **Settings** view beside **Files**. 2. Download Where: Export Press **Download code**. You get a zip named after the site's address and version, such as `harbour-plumbing-version-14.zip`. Where 1. Settings 2. File Explorer 3. Settings 4. Download code For an earlier version, open **Settings**, **Backups**: every version has its own **Download** button. The **Download code** row carries a **Paid** tag. ## What the zip holds, and what it doesn't The zip holds the files written for your site: its pages, sections, words and its own files, exactly as that version had them. It leaves out the shared building blocks the studio provides for every site, the files that set up the build, and anything secret. Because those shared pieces are missing, the zip won't run or build on its own. That makes it a record and a reference rather than a portable copy. People use it to keep an archive of what went live, to show a developer how a section was made, or to search the site's words in their own editor. Archive Design agency > An agency with six client sites downloads each site's zip after launch and files it with the client's contract. Each zip holds the launch version's pages and words, so they can show exactly what went live and when. A small fix by hand Physiotherapy clinic > The clinic's office manager finds the file holding the opening hours, changes Friday to 8am to 4pm, adds the note `Winter hours` and presses **Save and publish**. A few minutes later the site showed the new hours. **Versions** listed it as a **Change**, and no credits were used. ### Can Viewers edit code? No. They can read every file, and on a paid plan download the zip. ### Can I download the code on Free? No. Downloading the code comes with a paid plan, from Starter. On Free you can still browse every file and, with edit rights, edit and publish them. ### Will Briks overwrite my edits? Changes you ask for later start from your files. A change can still rework a file it touches, so mention your edit if you ask Briks to change the same section. ### Can I add pictures here? No. Pictures and other files that aren't text can't be made in the File Explorer. Use the **Media** tab or **Storage**. ## Read next - [Working on a project **Versions, undo and redo** Every build and change is saved as a version of your site. Undo a change, redo it, or put any earlier version back live exactly as it was, with no credits held.](https://briks.dev/docs/versions) - [Working on a project **GitHub sync** Connect a GitHub repository, so each version you publish is committed there and each push to its branch is checked and published on your site.](https://briks.dev/docs/github) - [Data and automation **Backups** What Briks keeps of each project: code versions, database restore points and nightly copies. How to restore, how to download and what each copy holds.](https://briks.dev/docs/backups) - [Data and automation **Secrets** Keep API keys and passwords your site's code needs on the site's server, never in pages or downloads. Add, change and remove them, and the rules Briks enforces.](https://briks.dev/docs/secrets) Still stuck? Write to [hello@briks.dev](mailto:hello@briks.dev) with your project's name and what you expected to see. A screenshot helps.