How you build

You build your work app by vibe coding. You describe what you want, Claude builds it, and you check the result. You never write React and never type a command. This page walks through the eight steps of the loop.

The loop

Step	What you do	What Claude does
1. Describe	Say what you want, in plain words, one change at a time	Asks a question if the request is unclear
2. Build	Approve the change	Edits the module file, data file or code
3. Test	Look at the page in your browser and try it	Runs its own checks and tells you what changed on screen
4. Read enough to steer	Read Claude's summary and the parts of the change you can follow	Explains each change in plain words
5. Debug by conversation	Describe what you see when something is wrong	Finds the cause and fixes it
6. Checkpoint	Ask Claude to save a checkpoint when it works	Saves the current state with git
7. Iterate	Make the next small change	Suggests one next thing to try
8. Ship	Start using it for real	Keeps the data current as you work

The steps

1. Describe

Say what you want and why, as you would to a colleague. Name the module and what you expect to see. One change per message works better than five.

"In People, I want each person's work phone. Add a column called Phone, after Organisation."

2. Build

Claude decides what to change. For most requests that is content, not code: a module file in app/src/modules/, or a data file in app/data/. Claude changes code only when content cannot do the job. When it needs to run a command, it asks your approval first.

3. Test

Open the page and use it: add a row, tick a task, open a sheet. Check the thing you asked for and one thing next to it.

4. Read enough to steer

You do not need to read code line by line. You need enough to tell if Claude did what you meant. Ask:

"What did you change, in plain words? Which files?"

A module file is short JSON. You can read it, and soon you can spot a wrong label or a field in the wrong place. See Review a change.

5. Debug by conversation

When something is wrong, describe what you see, not the cause you suspect.

"The People page is blank since your last change. Before that it showed the table. What happened?"

Claude reads the error, finds the cause and fixes it. If you are stuck, see When something breaks.

6. Checkpoint

When a change works, save it. A checkpoint is a saved state you can go back to.

"This works. Save a checkpoint called 'People has Next meeting'."

A checkpoint button in the app is planned, not built. Claude saves checkpoints with git, and can take you back to one when you ask. See Checkpoints.

7. Iterate

Make the next change. Claude ends each change with one suggestion; take it or leave it.

8. Ship

On your own laptop, shipping means using it: you open the app tomorrow and it is part of how you work. The app runs on your laptop, for you.

A worked example

Sam works with customers in Germany, the UK and Spain. They want to see which language each contact prefers for meetings.

Describe. "In People, add a column called Language after Role. It is a short line, such as German."
Build. Claude adds one field to the People module file and says what it did.
Test. Sam opens People. There is no Language column in the table. When they open Maya Okafor's row, Language is there, on the Note tab of the sheet.
Debug. Sam tells Claude: "I can't see Language in the table, only when I open a person." Claude explains that only fields on the first tab show as columns, and moves Language to the Details tab.
Steer. Sam asks which file changed. Claude names the People module file and shows the new field: a key, a label, a kind and a tab. Sam can read it.
Checkpoint. "This works. Save a checkpoint: People has Language."
Iterate. Claude suggests filling Language for the people Sam already has. Sam says yes, and checks the result.
Ship. On Monday Sam opens People and sees each contact's language before booking a meeting.

Where to practise

The Learn course takes you through this loop on real changes: Change a module and Build your first module. For prompt patterns that work, see How to ask Claude.

Next: Principles.