Beginner series · 10 parts

Getting Started with Coding Agents.

You’ll build a reading-list app and put it online by telling an AI coding agent what you want and checking what it makes. You need no coding experience, and you won’t read code.

Along the way you’ll learn how a web app’s client and server fit together, and how to set a project up so an agent works well in it.

Start with Part 1
The finished reading-list app: a purple book mascot, three book cards with reading statuses, and a search field.
This is our example. Yours will look the way you decide.Try it

What you need

  • A computer

    One you can install software on.

  • Claude Code or Codex

    Codex has a free tier. Claude Code needs a paid plan or credit.

  • Nothing else yet

    Part 1 walks you through installing the rest.

10 steps to your first AI-built app

Work through the parts in order. Each one ends at a result you can check.

  1. Set up your projectYour starting page runs on your computer.
  2. Brief your agentA brand-new conversation already knows you and your project’s rules.
  3. Plan your reading listA written plan for what the app does.
  4. Brand your reading listA look you chose, a mascot, and a style-guide page you can open.
  5. How your reading list worksYou can explain how a web app’s client and server work together.
  6. Build your reading listTests that say what correct means, then an app that turns them green.
  7. Save your reading listYour list survives a refresh, and the app is honest when the server fails.
  8. Keep your reading list workingTests that cover the whole app, and a failure you have read.
  9. Publish your reading listA link you can share.
  10. Extend your reading list yourselfA feature nobody gave you a prompt for, live at your link.
Start with Part 1

Downloads:Starter ZIPFinished example ZIP

Would you rather have an app built for you? See what I do and what it costs.