The Zero-Dev Builder Setup

Part 1, Install (30 minutes)

1. Claude desktop app, claude.ai/download → sign in (the $20/mo plan is the sweet spot to start).
2. Claude Code, the terminal/desktop builder. Follow the install at claude.com/claude-code. Don't fear the terminal: you'll type sentences, not commands.
3. A projects folder, create ~/Projects/my-app. Claude Code works inside a folder; that folder becomes your app.
4. Optional but smart: a GitHub account (free), your project's time machine. Claude Code will handle the saving for you when you ask.

Part 2, Your first three prompts (in Claude Code, inside your folder)

Prompt 1, the foundation:

Create a CLAUDE.md file for this project. It's [your one-line idea]. Tech choices: keep them boring and popular. Write down: what we're building, the stack you recommend for a solo non-developer, and the rules you'll follow (small steps, explain as you go, ask before big decisions).

(This file becomes your project's memory, every future session reads it first.)

Prompt 2, the walking skeleton:

Build the smallest possible version that runs: one screen that says hello and one button that does one real thing. Then tell me exactly how to run it and see it in my browser.

Prompt 3, the habit:

From now on, work in steps small enough that after each one, I can SEE something changed. After each step: what you did, in one sentence a non-developer understands.

Part 3, The mock-first pattern (the pro move)

The trap every beginner hits: connecting real AI services on day one, then burning money and hitting confusing errors while just building screens.

The pattern from my real app:

Every outside service gets a FAKE TWIN first. The fake returns realistic, hard-coded answers instantly and free. The whole app runs on fakes. Real services get plugged in one at a time, at the END.

Tell Claude Code exactly this:

For every external API in this project, create a mock version first: same inputs, same output shape, realistic fake data, and make the fake DETERMINISTIC (same input → same fake answer every time). A single setting switches between mock and real. Default: mock.

What this buys you:

• $0 while you build, screens, flows, edge cases, all free.
• Instant, no waiting on APIs while designing.
• Debuggable, when something breaks with real AI later, flip to mock: if it works, the bug is the service, not your app.
• Demo-able, you can show your app anywhere, even with no internet.

One rule that saved me: make the fallback LOUD. If the app silently falls back to fakes when a key breaks, you'll ship fake answers without knowing (true story, cost me two days). Have it print/log "MOCK MODE" in big letters.

Part 4, The thin-wrapper rule

Never let a vendor's name spread through your app. One file per vendor; everything else talks to YOUR file. I changed image providers twice, each change was one line. Tell Claude Code: "wrap every external service in one thin module so we can swap vendors later by changing one line."