A client website handoff is complete when the client can operate the site and arrange its next update. A public link and a design approval are useful, but they do not establish who controls the domain, where the source files live, or how a broken update will be reversed.
Use this checklist for a small AI-built HTML or frontend website. Adapt it for the project's actual features; a site with payments, accounts, or server-side data needs additional system-specific documentation. Do not describe a static frontend as a complete working service until its connected workflows have been tested.
Establish ownership first
List the domain registrar, hosting account, analytics property, form service, and any other service the site depends on. Record which organization owns each account and which named contact can recover access. Invite the client's authorized account instead of sending your own password.
Separate the domain from the hosting subscription. A client may own one and have no access to the other. Confirm the renewal contact and the place future billing notices will arrive. Avoid making purchases or changing unrelated domain records as part of a casual handoff.
If you connect a custom domain, save a record of the web-related change and preserve mail records. A website launch should not silently disrupt the client's email. Keep the domain's recovery information in the client's controlled password manager or account system.
Deliver the source used for the live version
Package the actual HTML, stylesheets, scripts, and assets that produced the approved website. For a build-based frontend, provide the source project and the instructions used to create its published output. Label the published output separately so the next maintainer knows which folder is uploaded.
Include a plain-text inventory: homepage, additional pages, images, contact workflow, external scripts, and dependencies. Identify assets that are licensed or supplied by the client. Remove development credentials and personal files before handing over the package.
Use a dated version name and save the previously approved version. “Final-final.zip” is less useful than a dated package plus a note stating which version is live. Make sure the client can open the package without access to your private AI conversation.
Test the promises the page makes
Write a compact acceptance record rather than a generic “looks good.” Include the public URL, the date, the devices checked, and the person who verified the important business workflows.
- Open the homepage and each navigation destination.
- Check images, mobile layout, readable text, and keyboard access.
- Submit a synthetic contact message and verify delivery.
- Test any booking or purchase links without making a real charge.
- Check page titles, descriptions, and a page-specific share image.
- Confirm that public pages do not expose private credentials or client-only information.
For forms, use the contact-form delivery guide. For files, use the static-site preflight checker. Those checks address concrete failure modes; they do not certify accessibility, security, or every possible device.
Define the next update and rollback
Explain where someone edits content, how the published output is created, and how an update reaches the public website. Name the person or role responsible for making that update. The client should know whether changes happen in files, a content system, or a new generated version.
Keep a known working package and explain how to restore it using the hosting provider's supported process. Record what restoration will and will not affect. Replacing the website files may not undo changes in a separate database or form service.
Set a review cadence for external links, inbox delivery, and service renewals. The goal is a manageable operating process, not a maintenance checklist nobody will read. A monthly five-minute check of the most important workflow can be more useful than a long document with no owner.
Send a concise handoff note
The note should contain the live URL, source package location, ownership contacts, acceptance record, update instructions, and support boundary. State outstanding items directly. If a connected workflow is unfinished, label it and keep the relevant page from implying otherwise.
GeminiLaunch can provide the published website URL for the frontend you deliver. Pair that URL with the tested files and operating notes so the client receives a maintainable website rather than a preview that only its original creator understands.
Prepared with AI assistance using the current public product and linked references. Practical checklists and illustrative examples are original planning aids. They do not establish product guarantees or replace a situation-specific review.