Prompting Playbook
Build your app from scratch, the right way.
Most first builds fail for the same reason. You open the tool, type a vague request, and the AI guesses at everything you didn't say. This playbook gives you the structure to get it right: plan first, prompt rich, change small, lock it down. Works for Bolt, Lovable, and Macaly.
PDF guide. Instant access.
What it does for you
Plan first
A 30-minute planning step that saves days. Get your data model right before you build.
Prompt rich
An eight-section founding prompt so the AI builds what you meant, not what it guessed.
Match the tool
Bolt, Lovable, and Macaly each want different things. Know what to tell each one.
Ship safely
The security step everyone skips, and the one that leaks customer data.
What is inside
Five steps. Plan, prompt, match, iterate, harden.
Plan Before You Prompt
The four questions to answer first, and why the data model is the part founders skip.
- What is the one thing this app must do on day one?
- Who are the two or three types of user, and what can each one do?
- What data does the app store, and what are the relationships?
- What does the happy path look like, step by step?
The Founding Prompt
An eight-section structure with a full worked example.
- Product: one-sentence description of what it does
- Users: roles and what each one can do
- Flows: the step-by-step paths through the app
- Data: tables, fields, and relationships
- Pages: every screen and what it contains
- Auth: who can log in and how
- Design: colours, fonts, and feel
- Out of scope: what the AI should not build yet
Tool-by-Tool Prompting
What Bolt, Lovable, and Macaly each reward, plus the quirks and limits of each.
- Bolt: works best with tight, scoped prompts and explicit file references
- Lovable: rewards design intent and layout descriptions
- Macaly: handles full-stack features well; be explicit about Convex schema
- What not to ask any of them in a single prompt
Iterate Small
One change per prompt, what not to touch, and when to start a fresh chat.
- One prompt, one change — never stack multiple features
- Describe the current state before describing the desired state
- What to lock before moving on to the next prompt
- The signal that means it's time to start a new chat
Harden Before Launch
API keys, database access rules, and testing as two users so you don't ship a leak.
- API keys out of the codebase before going live
- Database rules: who can read and write what
- Test as a logged-out user and as a second account
- The one permission mistake that exposes all user data
Ready to build the right way
Build your next app the right way
Five steps that take you from blank page to a working, secure app without the false starts.
PDF guide. Instant access.