01 · Idea
Start with a person and a problem
“An app” is not an idea. “A page my gym-going friend can log sets in under a minute” is an idea. Write it down before you open an AI.
Idea to deployed
Scroll the path. The gold node is you. Nothing ships without that gate.
02 · Chat with AI
Use chat to shrink the first version
Any major chat AI works here. Ask it what to cut. Planning in a coding agent burns the expensive minutes.
03 · Visualize / plan
Demand a numbered plan you can read
If a step uses a word you do not know — API, npm, environment variable — stop and get a plain-English translation. Dotted words on this site tap open.
04 · Project context
One file for the project, adapters for each agent
Purpose, stack, what not to do, secret names never secret values. Claude may want CLAUDE.md. Codex looks for AGENTS.md. Grok will read what you point it at. The source of truth is the project file.
05 · Coding agent
Launch one agent in the folder
VS Code → Terminal → New Terminal. Then grok or codex. Copilot CLI may advertise itself in the same panel. That is a different instrument. Pick on purpose.
06 · Implement
One step. Then you look.
Agents will happily write ten files. Your job is to make them write one slice you can test.
07 · Run + test
Phone, console, real click
Open the page. Use it like a stranger. If it overflows or the button does nothing, that is the next prompt — with a screenshot. In Grok Build on Windows, image paste is often Alt+V, not Ctrl+V.
08 · AI review
A second model is allowed to argue
When one agent loops, do not keep punching the same bruise. Another AI, another angle. Then bring the diagnosis back.
09 · Human approval
This is the whole point of the constellation
You are the center of the diagram for a reason. If you cannot explain the change, it does not merge, it does not deploy, it does not get to call itself done.
10 · Deploy
A URL other people can open
Deploy is not magic. For a simple site it is “upload these files to a host.” Keep a Git backup so a bad day is not a lost project.
You remain the builder. AI becomes your engineering team.