diff --git a/.github/workflows/update.yml b/.github/workflows/update.yml
index a1b8597147..fb79f04128 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/update.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/update.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ name: Update Plugin Index
 
 on:
   workflow_dispatch:
+  pull_request:
   schedule:
     # "every 2 hours"
     - cron: 0 */2 * * *
@@ -45,7 +46,7 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           python scripts/fetch_manifests.py
 
-      # validate and re-index plugin versions in case new ones have been 
+      # validate and re-index plugin versions in case new ones have been
       # retrieved from bigquery
       # will update extended_summary.json, index.json and pypi.json
       # to include all plugin versions
@@ -58,7 +59,33 @@ jobs:
 
       # push changes back to the repo, this will trigger a new vercel build
       # https://github.com/stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action
+      # skip on PRs - we only want to validate, not modify the PR
       - uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@04702edda442b2e678b25b537cec683a1493fcb9 # v7.1.0
+        if: github.event_name != 'pull_request'
         with:
           commit_message: '[bot] Update Plugin Index'
           commit_author: github-actions[bot] <github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
+
+      # prepare static files for gh-pages deployment
+      # do this AFTER the vercel commit to make sure we're not messing with anything
+      - name: Prepare gh-pages
+        run: |
+          python scripts/prepare_gh_pages.py
+
+      # upload gh-pages artifact for PRs (for inspection)
+      - name: Upload gh-pages artifact
+        if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@50769540e7f4bd5e21e526ee35c689e35e0d6874 # v4.4.0
+        with:
+          name: gh-pages-preview
+          path: ./gh-pages
+
+      # deploy to gh-pages branch (only on main/scheduled runs, not PRs)
+      - name: Deploy to GitHub Pages
+        if: github.event_name != 'pull_request'
+        uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v4
+        with:
+          github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          publish_dir: ./gh-pages
+          publish_branch: gh-pages
+          force_orphan: true
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ab59128d8a..3724fb2403 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 
 # production
 /build
+/gh-pages
 
 # misc
 .DS_Store
diff --git a/pages/api/conda.js b/pages/api/conda-map.js
similarity index 100%
rename from pages/api/conda.js
rename to pages/api/conda-map.js
diff --git a/scripts/prepare_gh_pages.py b/scripts/prepare_gh_pages.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8ae52e951c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/prepare_gh_pages.py
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Prepare static files for GitHub Pages deployment.
+
+This script creates a gh-pages directory with the same structure as public/
+but formatted for static file serving:
+- No .json file extensions (to match API routes)
+- conda.json -> conda-map (to avoid /conda conflicts with /conda/{plugin_name})
+- Everything nested under an 'api' directory
+- Simple index.html at the root
+"""
+
+import json
+import shutil
+from pathlib import Path
+
+
+def prepare_gh_pages():
+    """Generate gh-pages directory structure from public directory."""
+    root_dir = Path(__file__).parent.parent
+    public_dir = root_dir / "public"
+    gh_pages_dir = root_dir / "gh-pages"
+    api_dir = gh_pages_dir / "api"
+
+    if gh_pages_dir.exists():
+        shutil.rmtree(gh_pages_dir)
+    gh_pages_dir.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
+    api_dir.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
+
+    print(f"📁 Preparing gh-pages directory at {gh_pages_dir}")
+
+    file_count = 0
+
+    for source_file in public_dir.rglob("*"):
+        if not source_file.is_file():
+            continue
+
+        if source_file.parent == "github":
+            # TODO: replace when github fetching is fixed
+            continue
+
+        rel_path = source_file.relative_to(public_dir)
+        dest_paths = []
+
+        # special cases for some json files avaialable *outside* the API route
+        if source_file == public_dir / "classifiers.json":
+            dest_paths.append(gh_pages_dir / "classifiers.json")
+        elif source_file == public_dir / "conda.json":
+            dest_paths.append(gh_pages_dir / "conda.json")
+            dest_paths.append(api_dir / "conda-map")
+        elif source_file == public_dir / "errors.json":
+            dest_paths.append(gh_pages_dir / "errors.json")
+        elif source_file == public_dir / "extended_summary.json":
+            dest_paths.append(gh_pages_dir / "extended_summary.json")
+            dest_paths.append(api_dir / "extended_summary")
+        elif source_file == public_dir / "index.json":
+            dest_paths.append(gh_pages_dir / "index.json")
+            dest_paths.append(api_dir / "plugins")
+        elif source_file == public_dir / "readers.json":
+            dest_paths.append(gh_pages_dir / "readers.json")
+        else:
+            dest_paths.append(api_dir / str(rel_path).removesuffix(".json"))
+
+        for dest_path in dest_paths:
+            dest_path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+            shutil.copy2(source_file, dest_path)
+            file_count += 1
+
+        if file_count % 100 == 0:
+            print(f"  Copied {file_count} files...")
+
+    print(f"✅ Copied {file_count} files to gh-pages/api/")
+
+    create_index_html(gh_pages_dir, api_dir)
+
+    print("🎉 gh-pages directory ready for deployment!")
+
+
+def create_index_html(gh_pages_dir: Path, api_dir: Path):
+    """Create a simple index.html that mimics the Next.js homepage."""
+
+    # get the list of all plugins
+    index_file = api_dir / "plugins"
+    with open(index_file) as f:
+        index_data = json.load(f)
+
+    plugin_list_html = "\n".join(
+        [
+            f'  <li><a href="api/manifest/{name}">{name}-{version}</a></li>'
+            for name, version in sorted(index_data.items())
+        ]
+    )
+
+    html_content = f"""<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html lang="en">
+<head>
+    <meta charset="UTF-8">
+    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
+    <title>napari plugins</title>
+</head>
+<body>
+    <div>
+        <h1>napari plugins</h1>
+        <p>This page serves the REST API for napari plugins.</p>
+        <p>
+            It is generated by the source code in the
+            <a href="https://github.com/napari/npe2api">npe2api repo</a>.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            A user-friendly site for napari plugin information is
+            <a href="https://napari-hub.org/">napari-hub.org</a>
+        </p>
+        <h3>Commonly used API endpoints</h3>
+        <p>Plugin index: <a href="api/plugins">api/plugins</a></p>
+        <p>
+            Summary info:
+                <a href="api/extended_summary">api/extended_summary</a>
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            PyPI information:
+                Use <code>api/pypi/pypi_plugin_name</code>
+                endpoint for an individual plugin.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Conda index: <a href="api/conda-map">api/conda-map</a>
+            (see conda info for each plugin at api/conda/pypi_name)
+        </p>
+        <p>Fetch errors: <a href="errors.json">errors.json</a></p>
+        <h3>Plugin manifests</h3>
+        <ul>
+        {plugin_list_html}
+        </ul>
+    </div>
+</body>
+</html>
+"""
+
+    index_html = gh_pages_dir / "index.html"
+    with open(index_html, "w") as f:
+        f.write(html_content)
+
+    print(f"📄 Created index.html with {len(index_data)} plugins listed")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    prepare_gh_pages()
diff --git a/vercel.json b/vercel.json
index 75e0e4bf7c..e7ff61dfc9 100644
--- a/vercel.json
+++ b/vercel.json
@@ -9,6 +9,29 @@
         }
       ],
       "destination": "https://api.napari.org/api/:path*"
+    },
+    {
+      "source": "/api/conda",
+      "destination": "/api/conda-map"
+    }
+  ],
+  "headers": [
+    {
+      "source": "/api/conda",
+      "headers": [
+        {
+          "key": "Deprecation",
+          "value": "true"
+        },
+        {
+          "key": "Link",
+          "value": "</api/conda-map>; rel=\"alternate\""
+        },
+        {
+          "key": "X-Deprecated-Message",
+          "value": "This endpoint is deprecated. Use /api/conda-map instead to avoid conflicts with /api/conda/:plugin routes."
+        }
+      ]
     }
   ]
 }
\ No newline at end of file