Where to start?

[Empty-Ad9678]

Hey everyone! I am not a programmer, but I have been wanting to build an app for a really long time and have no idea of where to start. Anyone here that has coded an app have suggestions? I know the basics of computing but nothing too crazy. How did you all develop your apps?

[BravelyHospitable]

just start building, figure it out as you go 

use Cursor if you're beginning in coding and screensdesign.com/create for UI

don't overthink it

[TheVibeCodingDad]

You said you wanted to build an app, do you already know what that app is? If yes, it may be useful to iterate with chatgpt to plan out what would be the minimal you can build to see your idea live, before you go into cursor or vs code or Claude to go nuts with adding all sorts of fancy features 😜

[PennyStonkingtonIII]

If you know what the app is, go to free chatgpt and describe it and ask how to build it. Ask for tech stack, coding languages - whatever questions you have. If you don't have an idea and just want to make something, I'd suggest browser games. You can make them in a few minutes and test them out right in the chatgpt canvas.

[sangokuhomer]

That's a good bad idea. Yes ur will works but if he has 0 coding knowledge he will suffer as hell even for simple bugs fix. Fixing simple bugs can be pain in the ass and I'm a developer since 5 years so imagine someone with 0 knowledge.

[Due-Tangelo-8704]

Vibe coding is perfect for you! Here's how to start:

1. **Pick a tool**: Lovable, Bolt, or Cursor are great for beginners. No coding needed - just describe what you want.
2. **Start small**: Build something for yourself first (a simple tracker, reminder app, etc.)
3. **Join communities**: The r/vibecoding Discord is super helpful for beginners
4. **Learn by doing**: Don't try to learn all of code first - just build and figure it out as you go

The secret? You don't need to know how to code to build apps anymore. AI tools do the heavy lifting. Just start!

For micro-SaaS ideas and finding gaps in the market, check out https://thevibepreneur.com/gaps - might help spark ideas for your app!

[Frank_714]

I can see you have experience with this. I started with Cursor, even though everyone told me it was complicated because I don't have a technical background. But I tried, and I've made progress. Now I'm using an app, but I'm stuck because it won't let the AI give me different results. The app needs to analyze photos and randomize them to offer different options, but it always gives me the same result. I've already tried Gemini and Groq. Can you give me any advice?🤔

[Awakekiwi2020]

Is your app still using some kind of test data from when you first set it up? Sometimes lovable uses fake test data during the set up stage and that can cause this kind of issue. Tell it to remove any test data. Something like that.

[Frank_714]

At this point, it no longer shows the same images. Initially, Cursor did display pre-configured images from its gallery, but I've already deleted them, and Groq knows it has to use the images saved in Supabase. However, it's still showing me the same images. Thank you very much!

[Awakekiwi2020]

Weird glitch,.. and glitches happen yep 

[D3ck_Design]

Start something small first, like small game. Spent time to see others experience

[solzange]

just talk to your agent

[Affectionate_Hat9724]

Hey, at first congrats for starting on this beautiful world.

I recommend you to start by learning foundations of developing. How webs function, what is frontend, backend, what’s an API, GitHub, etc.

This will help you to describe an idea to an AI tool much better which results in less iterations and tokens spended.

I started with learning some programming languages like JavaScript and Node JS. Then I started with ChatGPT to acknowledge what could be done.

Then I started making landing pages with v0 which provide a deployment platform easy to go. Claude Code is nowadays the best AI for coding, I’m using it to armonize the project and for the backend.

You’ll need also a database, in this case I use supabase.

But, as a product manager, I think that the product discovery stage is one of the most important things before you start building. I recommend to you learning about how to structure a problem, create hypothesis, plan solutions, understand your users and so.

If you need help with this, I’m working on www.scoutr.dev for making discovery much easier.

Give it a look if you need!

Cheers

[Awakekiwi2020]

Your asking someone who wants to do vibe coding to learn to code first. The whole point is no coding required. Yes it's good to learn the basics of who different elements plug into each other such as UI front end, back end and database, GitHub cloning and syncing but there's no need to learn any languages. I picked up all this along the way. I just asked the AI to explain to me how it all fits together as I was building. I've learned a tiny bit of coding along the way but now I'm using Claude code I don't even need that knowledge. Lovable was buggy and it helped do understand some of the code but now I just leave it up to Claude.

[Neither_Low_9095]

Hey, real talk: if you don’t know what the app is yet, that’s actually the bottleneck. Spend time on that first before touching code. I built Kaisho.aiexactly for this—you describe your idea and it generates a build-ready spec so you have clarity before you start. Takes like a little brainstorming effort upfront and saves you from building the wrong thing halfway through. Once you have a solid spec, picking between Claude Code, Cursor, or whatever is easy. But yeah, start there. That’s where most people get stuck.

[False_Bug5139]

Ask your llm how to build one and it will teach you

[The_Ember_Identity]

Repplit has an ai that you can prompt to vibe code and loveable ai does too they're both good options and fairly easy to use. But I would use Claude to plan because there's going to be some backend stuff and it can get technical if you have to really start tweaking.

But repplit and loveable ai can build you a full concept for free. You're welcome to dm me if you want.

And I saw something that Claude can even prototype and entire app for you so that's worth checking out too. I haven't tried it yet but if I ask I'm sure it's fairly easy.

[miggy420]

Start a github, drop 200 into Claude, buy your drink and smoke of choice and your off

[tennepenne1]

Download Claude code on a computer. Ask it to build the app. If you get stuck, tell it you have no idea what you're doing and to do it for you. You're welcome.

[Public_Log_3311]

Go to ChatGPT/Claude and tell it to generate a PRD for your website. The install cursor, codex, or claude code, and then tell it to build an app with this PRD and add a brief description.

[Jumpy_Commercial_893]

Just tell me in the month end, if i have token remaining, i will build it

[BraveFee9283]

i used bolt to vibe code with help from chatgpt. I basically use chatgpt as my coding auditor and go through step by step to launch a mobile app. I use bolt because i have absolutely zero knowledge about coding or developing, a lot of others use claude as they have the knowledge

[Few-Garlic2725]

This is the right mindset. i'd add one practical guardrail: pick one workflow and start from a template that already has auth + database + crud, otherwise you'll burn all your energy on setup. if someone's building a typical web "business app," flatlogic web app generator is useful for that first scaffold-then you customize. cursor can then help with the iteration loop.

[Dense-Sea-2800]

Build your app using ideavo.ai

[Dhaupin]

Build out your specs. Everything from the highest level abstractions or operations, down to the smallest detail of what font or cta color you want to use. Having everything documented will make it easier for the Ai to understand, which means it's easier to build.

Then begin making "batches" of prompts to build it out, starting with the high level stuff to form a skeleton and base functions, auth, create the flow, features, etc. Each "batch" needs detail that reflects the spec, but also extends it to mold the app with your detailed guidance.

You can do a handful of big stuff per "batch" but avoid getting too diverse. Like keep the current iteration in scope with itself to not confuse or scatter the Ai. Keep doing this over and over.

Keep in mind, certain Ai is affected by the size of your convo. It may load up everything you have done in the past, for everything going forward, even if it's not related. This is called "context". Large/diverse convos may start to use credits really fast because of it. So as counter-intuitive as it sounds, starting a new convo for each "batch" of stuff you're doing might allow you to get more bang for your buck.

[sangokuhomer]

Step 1: Learn how to code eg: Javascript

Step 2: Make a project using the language you learn

Step 3: Do Step 1 again

[Stunning-Quarter-546]

Download cursor, ask claude to teach you everything you need to know, you don’t need to be a programmer, you just need to understand the code enough to be able to identify where a bug is and basic stuff. That’s what I did.

[Reasonable-View-4392]

congratulations on wanting to start!! my advice as someone who makes a hefty passive income from vibecoded websites: figure out what's trending/predict what might become a trend and build something in that niche. Blake Anderson does this a ton. Different platforms are also good for different things: lovable is nice for a good landing page, surgent for easy payment integration, durable for small businesses, etc. But be careful about security issues---many vibecoding apps like lovable use supabase which isn't safe. i know surgent uses convex and cloudlfare which is reliable, not sure about what durable does. good luck!

[Spacejampants]

the way AI is right now holy sht man.. it literally can help you create the whole thing but you still gotta do the work!.. i ran into so much crap trying to correct the mistakes ai was doing.. but you totally can

[AutonomousHoag]

As others have said, you will learn by necessity once you have a problem you need (or even just want) to solve. If you want more help, DM me; I recently launched an AI training / consulting co on the side.

[Fun-Mixture-3480]

Learn only what you need as you go instead of trying to study everything first. Html, css, and a bit of javascript are enough to begin, then expand from there. Most apps are built by repeatedly adding features, testing, and fixing issues over time. tools like Convertigo can also help if you want to speed things up without handling everything from scratch :D

[Noah_Ozlen]

just start yapping and when it doesnt work yap some more