Background: I came from Microsoft doing algorithms/backend. Zero Node.js or frontend experience. Built this with Claude Code as my primary coding partner.
What I learned:
Week 1-2: AI is incredible for cold starts. Had a working tldraw canvas, Cloudflare Workers, image generation, and auth within hours.
Week 3-4: Hit the context window wall. Found 8 components with duplicate fetch() calls, 3 different credit validation implementations, and race conditions between Stripe webhooks. AI builds what you ask for right now - it doesn't think about the system.
Week 5-6: Partnered with an experienced engineer. He didn't write much new code - he deleted things. The codebase got smaller but more stable.
My productivity hack: 3 terminal windows with 2 Claude instances working on independent features while I review. Parallelization helps but multiplies the duplication problem.
Key insight: AI + experienced engineer = 10x. AI + inexperienced developer = 3x with debt.
Question for HN: How do you handle AI-assisted frontend work? AI can't see the UI. It doesn't notice a button is 2px off or spacing looks wrong on mobile. Any workflows that close this visual feedback loop?
Free to try. Codes HN50 (50% off, first 100) and HN20 (20% off, first 1000) if useful.
blinkbat•1h ago
zxzxy1988•1h ago