Clone Website

Clone Website

You are about to reverse-engineer and rebuild the target URL or URLs in the user's request as pixel-perfect clones.

When multiple URLs are provided, preserve every pathname as a distinct route and isolate each target's research, screenshots, components, and assets. URLs that differ only by query string or fragment share a pathname, so resolve their route and state behavior explicitly in the output plan. Parallelize page work only after the shared foundation and output plan are fixed so concurrent builders cannot overwrite one another.

This is not a two-phase process (inspect then build). You are a foreman walking the job site — as you inspect each section of the page, you write a detailed specification to a file, then hand that file to a specialist builder agent with everything they need. Extraction and construction happen in parallel, but extraction is meticulous and produces auditable artifacts.

Scope Defaults

The target is whatever page the requested URL resolves to. Clone exactly what's visible at that URL. Unless the user specifies otherwise, use these defaults:

• Fidelity level: Pixel-perfect — exact match in colors, spacing, typography, animations
• In scope: Visual layout and styling, component structure and interactions, responsive design, mock data for demo purposes
• Out of scope: Real backend / database, authentication, real-time features, SEO optimization, accessibility audit
• Customization: None — pure emulation

If the user provides additional instructions (specific fidelity level, customizations, extra context), honor those over the defaults.

Output Isolation and Route Preservation

Treat every target URL as durable project output, not as permission to replace whatever was built previously.

Choose an <app-root> before extraction. For a single application, <app-root> is the repository root (.). If different origins need separate applications, require the user to provide or approve a prepared Next.js project root for each origin; verify each root builds independently, and never write one origin's output into another root.

Then assign each target:

• A collision-resistant <site-key>: a readable origin slug (including a non-default port) plus the first 8 lowercase hex characters of SHA-256 over the normalized origin.
• A collision-resistant <page-key>: a segment-preserving readable pathname slug plus the first 8 lowercase hex characters of SHA-256 over the normalized pathname and any stateful query/fragment; use root-<hash> for /. Never rely on lossy character replacement alone.
• An artifact root: <app-root>/docs/research/<site-key>/<page-key>/.
• A screenshot root: <app-root>/docs/design-references/<site-key>/<page-key>/.
• A component root: <app-root>/src/components/sites/<site-key>/<page-key>/, with genuinely shared same-site components under <app-root>/src/components/sites/<site-key>/shared/.
• An asset root: <app-root>/public/sites/<site-key>/<page-key>/, with genuinely shared same-site assets under <app-root>/public/sites/<site-key>/shared/.
• A Next.js route file.

All paths in the remaining phases are relative to that target's <app-root>. Before writing, verify that every planned route, artifact root, screenshot root, component root, asset root, and downloader filename is unique or is an explicitly approved shared location.

Routing defaults:

• For the first single-URL clone in an untouched template, the existing scaffold at src/app/page.tsx may be replaced so the clone remains available at /.
• For multiple URLs from the same origin, or any later clone added to a project that already contains cloned/user-authored pages, preserve the normalized source pathname as its App Router URL (for example, /docs/intro becomes <app-root>/src/app/docs/intro/page.tsx). Encode filesystem segment names that would invoke App Router syntax: escape a leading _ or @, and literal parentheses or square brackets, with percent-encoded folder spellings rather than creating private folders, slots, route groups, or dynamic segments. Verify the built route resolves at the exact normalized URL before completion.
• Inspect every existing src/app/**/page.tsx before writing. Never delete or replace a non-scaffold route, component tree, research folder, screenshot, or asset namespace unless the user explicitly approves that exact replacement.
• If the planned route already exists, stop and ask whether to update that route, choose another route, or skip it.
• URLs from different origins may require incompatible fonts, global CSS, layouts, and metadata. Before modifying files, ask whether the user wants separate prepared application roots (recommended) or an intentionally combined multi-site app with route-scoped styling. Do not create an unapproved monorepo or silently mix global foundations.

Pre-Flight

1. Browser automation is required. Check for available browser MCP tools (Chrome MCP, Playwright MCP, Browserbase MCP, Puppeteer MCP, etc.). Use whichever is available — if multiple exist, prefer Chrome MCP. If none are detected, ask the user which browser tool they have and how to connect it. This skill cannot work without browser automation.
2. Parse the target URL or URLs from the user's request. Normalize and validate each URL; if any are invalid, ask the user to correct them before proceeding. For each valid URL, verify it is accessible via your browser MCP tool.
3. Verify the base project builds: npm run build. The Next.js + shadcn/ui + Tailwind v4 scaffold should already be in place. If not, tell the user to set it up first.
4. Inventory existing routes (src/app/**/page.tsx), site component namespaces, research artifacts, screenshots, and public assets. Distinguish the untouched template scaffold from existing cloned or user-authored work.
5. Write an output plan listing every target URL, <app-root>, <site-key>, <page-key>, destination route, artifact roots, and whether any shared foundation file must change. Resolve collisions across every planned output, same-path query/fragment behavior, and multi-origin layout decisions with the user before editing.
6. Create only the planned per-page/per-site directories plus scripts/ if needed. Use unique asset-download script names such as scripts/download-assets-<site-key>-<page-key>.mjs; do not overwrite another page's downloader.
7. For multiple pages from one origin, build the shared foundation once, sequentially, before parallel page work. Optionally confirm whether to run page builders in parallel (recommended if resources allow) or sequentially to avoid overload.

Before the inspection pass, read references/inspection-guide.md for the reusable visual, component, layout, and technical audit checklist.

Guiding Principles

These are the truths that separate a successful clone from a "close enough" mess. Internalize them — they should inform every decision you make.

1. Completeness Beats Speed

Every builder agent must receive everything it needs to do its job perfectly: screenshot, exact CSS values, downloaded assets with local paths, real text content, component structure. If a builder has to guess anything — a color, a font size, a padding value — you have failed at extraction. Take the extra minute to extract one more property rather than shipping an incomplete brief.

2. Small Tasks, Perfect Results

When an agent gets "build the entire features section," it glosses over details — it approximates spacing, guesses font sizes, and produces something "close enough" but clearly wrong. When it gets a single focused component with exact CSS values, it nails it every time.