Smart-Site v3.0.0

SmartSite 3.0.0 — standalone website-building kit with native Payload MCP

SmartSite now ships as a complete standalone project that Codex or Claude Code can set up and build through conversation. The exported site owns its source, dependencies, database lifecycle, documentation and skills, with no connection back to the factory repository.

What changed

• Adopted the official Payload 3.92.0 MCP plugin for transport and authentication, with four focused SmartSite tools for reads/schema discovery, revision-checked saves, bounded media upload and uncertain-operation recovery.
• Added project-local startup and repair helpers with private credentials, independent site identity/ports, authenticated Mongo transactions and resumable initialization. First startup creates essentials rather than demo business content.
• Included matching Codex and Claude skill kits covering startup, website building, reusable sections, content, databases, repair and launch, plus the licensed Payload reference skill.
• Removed the global SmartSite CLI, separate AI chat application, embedded chat/control routes and HTTP seed endpoint from the current starter. The site requires no model-provider API key.
• Added reviewed content-transfer receipts and explicit account mapping, standalone upgrade guidance, and authenticated self-hosted Mongo replica-set conversion/backup/recovery procedures.
• Fixed CMS visibility, transactional publication/redirects, post-template rendering and public author/avatar handling found by real browser acceptance.
• Pinned Next 16.3.3, React 19.3.1, Node >=24.22.1 <25 and pnpm 10.34.8; included the standalone dependency lockfile and export integrity manifest.

Upgrading from 2.x
This is a major workflow change. Read docs/releases/native-mcp-transition.md and docs/workflows/upgrading.md before applying it. Back up source, database and media, then rehearse a reviewed source merge and database migration on disposable copies. Preserve client customizations and authored AI context. Do not replace a live project's environment or rerun first-launch content transfer during routine code deployment. Existing Mongo deployments must support authenticated transactions. Per-operator MCP access and the client's normal trust/reconnect step remain explicit.

Verification and limits
Standalone installation, type-check, lint, production build, MCP/permission/concurrency/recovery tests, startup interruption tests and content-transfer tests passed. Independent Codex and Claude CLI sessions used the shipped kit; actual desktop/mobile pages and the authenticated CMS editor were inspected, with nine browser acceptance checks passing. Populated Mongo conversion, restart and backup restoration were exercised in Docker.

Full application acceptance was on native macOS ARM64. Native Windows lifecycle is not supported, and PostgreSQL migrations, a full Linux application deployment and arbitrary customized customer upgrades are not certified. Two existing navigation lint warnings and the official MCP dependency graph's peer warning remain. This source release does not shut down previously deployed AI services or delete old published packages or credentials.