GitHub Pages 404: Check These Paths Before Rebuilding

A deployment can succeed while a link still points to the wrong path. Diagnose the URL and file structure before asking an assistant to regenerate the whole project.

A practical sequence

Copy the failing URL and compare it with the working home page. A project site under a repository name needs links that respect that prefix.
Check the exact filename, extension and letter case in the repository. A file that works on a case-insensitive local system can fail on the published server.
Review the selected publishing branch and folder in Pages settings. Confirm the entry file exists in that source and inspect the deployment result.
Make one targeted fix, wait for the deployment to complete and test the affected URL in a fresh visit. Keep the previous revision available for rollback.

An example to adapt

Debug brief: Here is the public URL, repository path and failing link. Explain the mismatch and propose the smallest correction without changing unrelated files.

Try the example in a copy or a small project before applying it to live work. Keep the working version available and record the exact change you made. For a college project or a freelance handoff, being able to explain the decision and demonstrate the result is more valuable than adding features you cannot maintain.

What to check before you finish

A browser cache clear cannot fix a missing file. Avoid changing domain DNS while the actual problem is a relative link or publishing directory.

Verify the intended behaviour as well as one failure case. Record what worked, what remains uncertain and how to reverse the change. An AI-generated explanation can help you investigate, but the running project and its actual output are the evidence.