Self-Hosting Interactive Stories
Learn how to export and self-host your FlowWasp interactive stories on your own infrastructure. Every exported bundle is completely static, containing 100% of the HTML, JavaScript, and image assets required for playback.
How It Works
Export ZIP Bundle
In your FlowWasp Dashboard, open any story and click Download ZIP Bundle.
Extract Files
Unzip the archive to inspect the static index.html, data.js, and image assets.
Host & Embed
Serve statically from Netlify, Vercel, S3, Docker, or embed directly into your documentation via iframe.
ZIP Bundle Contents
The exported bundle is organized as follows:
Contains all high-resolution step screenshots and visual capture crops.
The standalone player interface with responsive layout, zoom focus, step scrubber, and interactive controls.
JavaScript file exporting the structured story JSON: titles, descriptions, coordinates, spotlight bounding boxes, and step timings.
Local Testing & CORS Policies
data.js) when opened over the file:// protocol. You must serve the unzipped folder through a local HTTP server.No installation needed if you have Node.js installed:
Standard module included with macOS and Linux:
Cloud Static Hosting
Deploy your stories worldwide with zero ongoing maintenance using any static site provider:
Go to Netlify Drop and simply drag your unzipped story folder onto the browser window. You receive an instant HTTPS link with global CDN edge caching.
Commit the extracted files to a GitHub repository. Connect the repository in Vercel or Cloudflare Pages. No build command is required (None) and the output directory is the root folder (./).
Upload the folder to an S3 bucket configured for static website hosting. Set the index document to index.html. Connect an Amazon CloudFront distribution for custom domain SSL.
Docker & Enterprise On-Premise
For organizations deploying within private networks, Kubernetes clusters, or air-gapped corporate intranets, create a minimal Alpine Nginx Docker container:
Embedding in Documentation & Apps
Embed your self-hosted story inside GitBook, Mintlify, Docusaurus, Notion, or internal knowledge bases:
Frequently Asked Questions
Are there any external network calls made by the self-hosted viewer?
No. The exported bundle is 100% self-contained. All styles, icons, scripts, and media assets are bundled locally in the archive. It will function completely offline or in air-gapped environments.
Can I customize the viewer styles or brand colors?
Yes! Because index.html is standard HTML and CSS, you can open it in any editor to customize fonts, colors, brand logos, or layout dimensions.
How do updates or edits to steps work?
You can make edits directly in the FlowWasp web editor and download a new ZIP bundle, or edit the JSON values in data.js directly without re-exporting.