The AI is good at building what you describe. So describing it well saves you credits, time, and frustration.
Here's what we've learned from watching thousands of builds.
The two-line rule
Most good prompts fit in two sentences:
- What you want (a thing)
- What you want it to do (a behavior)
Example: Add a checkout button to the product page. When clicked, it should take the customer to a payment screen.
You don't need to specify colors, sizes, where the button goes, or what code to write. The AI handles all of that.
Be specific about the thing
Vague: Make it better.
Better: Make the homepage feel more premium — bigger photos, less text, more whitespace.
The AI is honest with you when a prompt is too broad. It'll often ask a clarifying question rather than guess. Answer those — they save credits.
Reference real things in your app
If your app already has a Customers
page, say On the Customers page, add a filter for active subscribers
— not add a filter on the second page from the left.
Patterns that work
Adding a feature:
Add [feature]. It should let users [action]. Show it [where].
Fixing a bug:
When I [action], [thing] should [behavior] but instead [actual behavior]. Please fix.
Redesigning:
Redesign [page]. Keep [what to preserve]. Change [what to change]. Inspiration: [reference site].
Adding data:
Add a [thing] to each [other thing]. It should be [type — text, number, date, photo, etc.] and [required / optional].
Connecting an integration:
Connect [service name]. When [event happens in app], [action in service]. (e.g.
When a new order comes in, post to our Slack #sales channel.)
Patterns to avoid
- Specifying code or technology: skip implementation details like
use this library
orsave it to the database.
The AI handles all of that. Telling it how to build something often makes things worse, not better. - Multiple big asks in one prompt: do them one at a time. You'll get cleaner results and easier rollbacks if something goes sideways.
- Vague comparisons:
Like Instagram
is too broad.With a tiled photo grid like Instagram's profile page
is useful.
When the AI gets it wrong
It happens. When it does:
- Tell it what's wrong —
The save button is doing nothing when I click it
- Roll back if needed — every change is a version you can revert (click the history icon)
- Try a different angle — sometimes a fresh prompt works better than four corrections in a row
Save your best prompts
Once you find a phrasing that works for your kind of asks, save it as a starter. The editor has a starter chip system — pin your go-to prompts so they're always one tap away.
What to read next
- Where did plan mode go? — the Plan/Build toggle was removed; how to agree on an approach before you build
- When things go wrong — what to do when a build fails