Beginner 20 min read

Your First AI Project

Stop reading tutorials. Build something real. This hands-on guide walks you through creating your first AI-assisted project from scratch.

What We're Building

We're going to build a Personal Task Manager—a simple but complete web application. By the end, you'll have:

  • A working web app you can actually use
  • Experience with AI-assisted development workflow
  • Confidence to build your next project

Why a task manager? It's simple enough to complete in one session, but complex enough to teach real skills: state management, user interaction, and data persistence.

Time Required: About 30-60 minutes, depending on your pace. No coding experience required.

Prerequisites

You'll need:

  1. A browser (you already have this)
  2. An AI tool — We'll use Lovable (free tier works fine)

That's it. No local setup, no installations, no configuration.

Step 1: Define What You Want

Before touching any AI tool, spend 2 minutes thinking about what you want. This is the most important step.

1

Write Down Your Requirements

Our task manager should: add tasks, mark tasks complete, delete tasks, and persist data between sessions. That's the minimum viable product.

Don't over-plan. Start simple. You can always add features later.

Step 2: Create Your First Prompt

Open Lovable and write your first prompt. Here's a good starting point:

Your First Prompt
Create a personal task manager app with the following features: 1. Add new tasks with a text input and button 2. Display tasks in a list 3. Mark tasks as complete (with visual indicator like strikethrough) 4. Delete tasks 5. Store tasks in localStorage so they persist between sessions Use a clean, modern design with: - Dark theme - Good spacing - Smooth animations when adding/completing/deleting tasks

Notice how specific this prompt is. We're telling the AI exactly what we want, including design preferences.

Step 3: Review the Output

The AI will generate a working application. Here's what to look for:

2

Test the Core Features

Try adding a task. Try completing it. Try deleting it. Refresh the page—are your tasks still there? If something doesn't work, we'll fix it in the next step.

Step 4: Iterate and Improve

Your first output probably isn't perfect. That's normal. Here's how to iterate:

Example: Fixing a Bug

If tasks aren't persisting after refresh:

Bug Fix Prompt
The tasks aren't being saved to localStorage properly. When I refresh the page, all tasks disappear. Please fix the localStorage implementation to: 1. Save tasks whenever they're added, completed, or deleted 2. Load tasks from localStorage when the app starts

Example: Adding a Feature

Once core features work, add enhancements:

Feature Addition Prompt
Add the ability to edit existing tasks: 1. Double-clicking a task should make it editable 2. Pressing Enter or clicking outside should save the edit 3. Pressing Escape should cancel the edit

Example: Improving Design

Design Improvement Prompt
Improve the visual design: 1. Add a subtle gradient background 2. Make completed tasks fade out slightly (opacity 0.6) 3. Add a counter showing "3 of 5 tasks complete" 4. Add hover effects on task items

Step 5: Export and Deploy

Once you're happy with your app, you can:

  1. Export the code — Download it to modify locally
  2. Deploy it — Most AI tools offer one-click deployment
  3. Share it — Send the link to friends

Congratulations! You've built a real, working web application using AI. This same process scales to much larger projects.

Common Issues and Fixes

"The AI gave me something completely different"

Your prompt was probably too vague. Add more specific requirements. Include examples of what you want.

"It generated code with errors"

Copy the error message and send it back to the AI: "I'm getting this error: [error]. Please fix it."

"The design looks bad"

Be specific about design. Instead of "make it look better," say "use more whitespace, larger font for headings, and a blue accent color."

"I want to change something but don't know how to ask"

Describe the current behavior, then describe what you want instead. The AI will figure out the implementation.

Next Steps

Now that you've built your first project:

  1. Build another one. Try something different—a calculator, a note-taking app, a simple game. Repetition builds skill.
  2. Try a different tool. Use v0.dev for UI-focused projects, or Claude Code for more complex applications.
  3. Read the code. Even if you don't fully understand it, start reading what the AI generates. You'll learn patterns.
  4. Check out our guides for more complex project walkthroughs.

Key Takeaways

  • Start with requirements. Know what you want before you prompt.
  • Be specific. Vague prompts get vague results.
  • Iterate. Don't expect perfection on the first try.
  • Test as you go. Catch bugs early.
  • Build real things. Tutorials only get you so far.