Option B (keep JS UX): Replace the handler with one that actually POSTs to FastMode:

form.addEventListener('submit', async (e) => {
  e.preventDefault();
  const formName = form.dataset.formName;
  const response = await fetch('/_forms/' + formName, {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
    body: JSON.stringify(Object.fromEntries(new FormData(form)))
  });
  if (response.ok) {
    form.reset();
    alert('Message sent!');  // NOW it's real!
  }
});

Deployment & Build Status

How Deployment Works

• Upload: fastmode deploy site.zip reads the zip, validates it, and uploads it to the server.
• Build: The server processes the package (renders templates, publishes pages). This happens asynchronously.
• Wait: By default, deploy polls for build status every 3 seconds until the build completes or times out (default 2 minutes).
• Result: Success message with page count and version, or failure message with error details.

Deploy Flags

Checking Build Status

After every deploy or content change, check the build status:

fastmode status

If the build failed, status shows:

• The error message
• Build logs
• What went wrong

If a build fails:

• Run fastmode status to see the error
• Fix the issue (template errors, invalid tokens, missing files, etc.)
• Re-deploy with fastmode deploy site.zip

Deploy History

fastmode deploys                # Show last 10 deployments
fastmode deploys --limit 5     # Show last 5

Shows status, version, duration, source, and errors for each deployment.

Exit Codes

• deploy: Exits 1 if the build fails (when waiting).
• status: Exits 1 if the latest deploy shows "Failed".
• Both: Exit 1 if no project is specified.

Validation

Always validate before deploying. Validation catches errors that would cause build failures.

Validation Workflow

# 1. Validate the manifest
fastmode validate manifest manifest.json

# 2. Validate each template
fastmode validate template pages/index.html -t static_page
fastmode validate template templates/posts_index.html -t custom_index -c posts
fastmode validate template templates/posts_detail.html -t custom_detail -c posts

# 3. Validate the complete package
fastmode validate package site.zip

What Gets Checked

Manifest validation:

• Valid JSON syntax
• pages array exists and is not empty
• Homepage (path /) exists
• All file paths are valid
• cmsTemplates format is correct (flat keys, not nested)

• Balanced tags: {{#each}} has matching {{/each}}, {{#if}} has {{/if}}
• Index templates have at least one {{#each}} loop
• Detail templates have CMS tokens
• Rich text fields use triple braces {{{field}}}
• Loop variables only used inside loops
• Asset paths use /public/ prefix
• Forms have required attributes
• YouTube iframes have referrerpolicy

• manifest.json exists at root
• All referenced files exist in the zip
• Assets are in public/ (not assets/ or root)
• Templates are in templates/ (not collections/)
• All templates pass individual validation

Validation with Schema Check

Add -p to validate tokens against the actual project schema:

fastmode validate template templates/posts_detail.html -t custom_detail -c posts -p "My Project"

This reports which tokens reference fields that don't exist in the schema yet, with instructions to create them via fastmode schema sync.

Common Mistakes & How to Fix Them

1. Assets return 404

Problem: CSS, JS, or images don't load. Cause: Files are in /assets/ instead of /public/, or paths don't include /public/. Fix: Move all static files to the public/ folder. Reference them as /public/css/style.css.

2. Rich text shows as raw HTML

Problem: Content displays

Hello

3. Collection listing page is blank

Problem: Index template shows no items. Cause: Missing {{#each collectionSlug}} loop. Fix: Add a loop: {{#each posts}}...{{/each}}.

4. All detail pages look the same

Problem: Every item page shows identical content. Cause: Detail template has no CMS tokens — just static HTML. Fix: Use tokens like {{name}}, {{{body}}}, {{image}} in the detail template.

5. Manifest uses wrong format

Problem: Build fails with manifest errors. Cause: Using nested objects or "collections" instead of flat "cmsTemplates" keys. Fix: Use flat format: "postsIndex", "postsIndexPath", "postsDetail", "postsDetailPath".

6. Relation field is empty after create

Problem: Created an item with a relation field but it's null. Cause: Used the item's name instead of its UUID. Fix: Run fastmode items relations --field to get the UUID, then use that.

7. Forms don't submit

Problem: Form appears to submit (shows toast/alert) but no data is received. Cause: Original JavaScript calls preventDefault() and shows a fake success message. Fix: Remove any form JavaScript that blocks submission. Use data-form-name and action="/_forms/formName".

8. Static pages can't be edited in CMS

Problem: Pages appear in the CMS but have no editable content. Cause: Missing data-edit-key attributes on text elements. Fix: Add data-edit-key="unique-key" to every text element that should be editable.

9. Deploy blocked by GitHub

Problem: deploy refuses to upload, says GitHub is connected. Cause: Project has GitHub auto-deploy enabled. Fix: Use --force flag: fastmode deploy site.zip --force.

10. Build fails after deploy

Problem: Upload succeeds but build fails. Fix: Run fastmode status to see the error. Common causes: invalid tokens, missing template files, malformed manifest. Fix the issue and re-deploy.

11. Template URLs don't match manifest

Problem: Links in templates point to wrong paths. Cause: Template hardcodes /posts/ but manifest sets "postsIndexPath": "/blog". Fix: Make sure hardcoded links in templates match the paths defined in manifest.json.

12. Loop variables undefined

Problem: {{@index}} or {{@first}} shows nothing. Cause: Used outside of a {{#each}} block. Fix: Only use loop variables inside {{#each}}...{{/each}}.

13. Duplicate SEO meta tags

Problem: SEO tags show up twice in the rendered HTML. Cause: HTML templates include