CRUD what? Knowing a little jargon helps.

One of the common issues we have faced building on Bolt are with the 'save, edit' functionality not working or breaking. What's more annoying is when you try the usual plain english prompts like, "Please fix the save functionality for posts?' and it pretends to understand it, makes a bunch of updates but does not really fix the issue. This is where knowing a little technical speak helps. According to Crowdstrike, "CRUD is the acronym for CREATE, READ, UPDATE and DELETE. These terms describe the four essential operations for creating and managing persistent data elements, mainly in relational and NoSQL databases." So using that acronym in the prompt, "Please fix all CRUD functions across all features in the app." works a lot better because, regardless of what we have been led to believe, AI is still, technology (not yet a sentient form) and is therefore much familiar with its native technical language than intepreting plain English. As they say... when in Rome... speak Latin (kinda ;)).
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'Inspect element' to the rescue

While the promise of no-code AI builders is that you really do not need to be technical is true - there are benefits to having SOME technical know-how. For example, I am building an app that had a huge white space on the right side, which I wanted to eliminate. I tried many prompts but was unable to get the prompt to fix it (although it said it did, it never showed in the actual app). So I resorted to good old 'Inspect element' option in the Google Chrome. I found the 'div element' that I was having an issue with, right-clicked on it, copied the element and pasted it into ChatGPT to ask it how I can remove the white space and to give me a prompt that will help Bolt remove it. Voila! It worked.
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Set a specific theme/scope for each version

As mentioned previously, I stay calm about the variability of the AI agents response by saving versions of my files. A key factor about this is ensuring you can identify the updates you made in each version. This way, if you need to go back to any version, you will know what you worked on. Some examples of themes/scopes can be: - Authentication: Working on all aspects related to sign up and login - Settings: Working on all aspects related to user settings - Editing: Working on all aspects related to editing a post - View UI: Working on all UI aspects related to the various views
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Target file: A great feature to ensure specific updates

I haven't used this feature much but if you are for example, making changes only to the 'Settings' screen. It is helpful to ask Bolt to just focus on making changes there and not anywhere else. Note: Sometimes you may forget that you have targetted a file and ask it to make broader changes. In this scenario, it most probably tell you that it needs to make changes to another file. I say most probably, because the only time this happened for me was when I asked it why it did not make changes I asked in the last prompt - and then it asked for permission to make changes outside the targeted file. Ideally it should have been more proactive.
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Stay calm by versioning on Stackblitz

I have started versioning files on Stackblitz now to ensure i can save stable versions of the app and differentiate them from ongoing work in progress builds. So this is what i'm doing now - - Once I feel like I am happy with a set of changes I have made, I deploy it with Bolt - Then open the project in Stackblitz and update the title - I use the titling convention: ProjectName v1.x [STATUS] - So since this is a project I was working on, it would be in the 'work in progress' state, hence titled - ProjectName v1.3 [WIP] - I change the title to ProjectName v1.3 [STABLE] - Then I fork the project and update the project version and status - ProjectName v1.4 [WIP] - I open up this project in Bolt and continue the process This enables me to stay calm about any mishaps that happen in the version I am working on because I can reopen previous versions in Bolt and start from that baseline.
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Being specific when requesting changes

On Notebook, you can edit posts in 3 places: When creating a new post by hitting the Post button, when editing it inline in the Feed view and when you are on an individual post view. The link preview wasn't working on the individual post view and I was constantly asking Bolt to make improvements to the 'Edit mode' - and testing it out on the individual post. And while Bolt was saying it was fixed, it did not seem to reflect it in the edit mode on the individual post. Latest I decided to test it out on the inline edit and realized it was working there. So I went back to the chat and said 'Make link preview updates to the edit mode on the individual blog post' page. And voila! it worked.
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No code building is like sculpture

You start with this big block of marble - aka code base with infinite possibilities. And then you use your very precise scalpel skills - aka prompting skills to carve out the piece of software that you envisioned and wanted to bring to life. Building Notebook has been an exercise in reducing the blogging experience to fit the needs I have, for a long time, wanted to have on any blogging platform. And because it did not exist in the world, I was compelled to bring it to life.
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LIVE: To do list

I am going to use this post as a ongoing to-do list to jot down the things I need to work on. - Enabling better mobile keyboard detection for a seamless typing experience - Wrapping the blog name, so that it doesn't conflict with the 'Post' button. Also - Adding bullet formatting in the simplest method possible - Make the sign out link visible across all Settings screen - Add a *Private note* toggle which can be used as a Draft
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Hello World: Building Something Simple, One Step at a Time

Here we go. I've always admired builders—the ones who take an idea and bring it to life, even if they have no idea where to start. Over the last couple of months I've been experimenting with the some ideas and finally I think I've hit on something that I'm excited to stay all night doing - building with AI. I just built a simple, minimal blogging app using Bolt.new. The kicker? I don’t know how to code. Yet, notebk.co exists! This app is far from perfect. It’s basic, but intentionally so. I wanted to strip away the noise and focus on what really matters: giving people a clean, intuitive way to share their thoughts with the world. No bloat, no endless customization options—just the essentials. Why am I doing this? Honestly, to see if I can. To learn. To build. To explore what happens when you combine curiosity, a few great tools, and a willingness to figure things out as you go. Over the coming days, I’ll be documenting my journey here—what I’m building, how I’m marketing it, and, yes, how I plan to make money from it. I don’t have all the answers, but I think that’s the point. I’m not aiming for perfection; I’m aiming to make progress, one post, one tweak, one decision at a time. If you’re into that kind of thing—learning by doing, making things happen even when you don’t have it all figured out—stick around. I’ll be sharing the wins, the failures, and everything in between. Who knows? Maybe we’ll both learn something along the way. Here’s to starting. Here’s to simple beginnings. Let’s build something together.
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