your take-home guide

Building with AI

Everything from today, in one place. Keep it by your computer. You do not need to remember anything, just come back to this and start typing.

Today in one minute

You described what you wanted in plain English, and Claude built it. That is the whole trick, and it works the same way every time:

1Describe itSay what you want.

2Claude builds itIt writes the app.

3You tweak itChange, add, repeat.

AI in plain English

What it is: an assistant that has read an enormous amount of writing and predicts what should come next, which lets it write things for you.
What it is great at: explaining, drafting, summarizing, translating, and building simple web apps.
The catch: it can sound completely sure and still be wrong. (People nickname this a "hallucination.") Check anything that matters.
Not always current: it may not know very recent news unless it looks it up for you.
You are in charge: it does what you ask. Clearer asks get better results.
You cannot break it: experiment freely. Start a fresh chat any time.

The prompt recipe

A good ask has five ingredients. Miss one and just add it after.

1Who it is for"for my book club"

2What it should do"track books we have read and our ratings"

3A few details"5 stars, a space for notes"

4How it should look"warm colors, big friendly text"

5Then say build it"now build it as a web app"

Put together: "For my book club, build me a web app that tracks the books we have read with a 5-star rating and a space for notes. Warm colors and big friendly text. Now build it as a web app."

Your magic card

Stuck for where to start? Fill in the three blanks and paste it into Claude.

fill me in

Build me a that helps me . Make it and easy to read.

Three examples, if you need a spark

Build me a countdown that helps me see the days until our cruise. Make it cheerful with a beach feel and easy to read.

Build me a recipe box that helps me save and find our favorite dinners. Make it warm and cozy and easy to read.

Build me a quiz that helps me test the grandkids on family history. Make it colorful and fun and easy to read.

Make it yours: tweak phrases

After Claude builds something, type any of these to change it. Copy them word for word.

"Make the text bigger."
"Use warmer colors" (or sunset colors, or "my favorite color, teal").
"Add a button that says ______."
"Add a picture at the top."
"Make it work well on my phone."
"Add a place for me to type notes."
"Put the newest one at the top."
"Add a reset button."
"Something looks off. Can you fix it?"
"Start over, simpler this time."

The app menu

Ready-to-paste prompts. Start with an Easy one today; save the rest for a rainy afternoon.

Easyone screen · works right away

Bill & tip splitterBuild me a web app that splits a restaurant bill and tip between a few people. Let me type the total, the tip percent, and how many people. Show what each person owes in big, clear numbers.

CountdownBuild me a web app that counts down the days to a date I choose. Let me type the event name and the date, and show the days remaining in big friendly text. Cheerful colors.

Dinner deciderBuild me a web app where I paste a list of our favorite dinners and a button picks one at random. Show the pick in big text with a "pick again" button.

Family trivia quizBuild me a short multiple-choice quiz web app. I will give you 5 questions and their answers. Keep score and show a friendly result at the end.

Mediumremembers things in your browser

Recipe boxBuild me a web app to save my recipes. Let me add a title, ingredients, and steps, then see a list and search it. Remember my recipes in the browser. Warm, cozy look.

Packing checklistBuild me a reusable packing checklist web app. Let me add items, tick them off, and clear all the ticks for the next trip. Remember my list. Big checkboxes.

Book or movie logBuild me a web app to log books (or movies) with a title, a star rating out of 5, and a note. Show them in a list I can sort by rating. Remember them in the browser.

Garden journalBuild me a garden journal web app. Let me log what I planted, the date, and when I last watered it. Show a simple list. Green, natural colors.

Hardsaves or shares with other people

Book club siteBuild me a book club web app that lists members, shows the current book, and lets everyone add discussion notes that are saved and shared. I want others to see the same notes, so use a database if needed and walk me through the setup step by step.

Family recipe collection (shared)Build me a web app where my whole family can add recipes to a shared collection everyone can see. Save it so it is shared, not just on my computer, and guide me through any setup.

Party RSVP pageBuild me an RSVP web app for a party. Guests enter their name, say yes or no, and what dish they will bring. Save the responses so I can see the full list, and guide me through sharing it.

Memory-match gameBuild me a memory-match card game web app that keeps score and has a restart button. Colorful and fun.

The Hard ones need to save or share information. When Claude needs that, it may set up a free "database" and give you steps. Go slowly; it will guide you the whole way.

Three good habits

Save itCopy your work somewhere. Nothing saves automatically.

Check factsIf it matters, verify it. Confident is not the same as correct.

Start overIt is free to try again. A fresh start often beats a long fix.

Keep playing at home

How to get Claude

Open claude.ai in any web browser, or install the Claude app on your phone or computer. A free account lets you try plenty.

Five things to try this week

Build one Easy app from the menu.
Ask it to explain something you have always wondered about.
Have it draft a tricky email or note for you.
Ask for a dinner idea using what is in your fridge.
Ask it to translate a message to or from another language.

Want to learn more?

Just keep a chat open and ask, "How do I…?" It is happy to teach you, one step at a time.

Mini glossary

AI: Software that can understand and produce language (and images).
Claude: The specific AI assistant we used today.
Prompt: The message you type to ask for something.
Hallucination: When the AI states something wrong as if it were true.
Web app: A small program that runs in a web browser.
Browser: The program you use to visit websites (Chrome, Safari, Edge).
Host / deploy: Putting your app online so others can open it with a link.
Database: Where an app stores information so it is saved or shared.

Building with AI · your take-home guide. Made with Claude.