Building a 0to1 Web App with Cursor: Product SpecToGo live in 2hrs

Hey Everyone, I recently stumbled upon an incredible tool called Cursor, and it immediately caught my attention. Designed to assist anyone — whether you’re a seasoned software engineer or someone who’s just dabbling in coding — it helps get projects done faster. Cursor doesn’t just write code; it helps refine it, debug it, and even links official documentation for better clarity. It’s so beautifully created I couldn’t resist sharing my experience.

As someone who used to code in Python but hadn’t touched it much since school, I was curious if this tool could help me tackle something.. For starters I picked a simple idea to see if it can come to life, a mood-based meal planner app (recommendation based app) .. will be exploring others soon, stay tuned!

TL;DR: If You’re Not Interested in Granular Details

Cursor is a coding assistant that helps you write, debug, and refine code quickly. I used it to create a web app, Vibey Meals Planner, in just two hours. The app suggests meals based on mood and meal type. Cursor worked like a charm for writing code, fixing UI issues, and even helping me debug errors by analyzing my console logs. While it’s not a perfect solution for absolute beginners, it’s a game-changer for anyone with some coding experience looking to speed up their workflow.

What is Cursor?

Cursor is a collaborative coding assistant that simplifies coding tasks. Basically it codes for based you what and how you ask (they use Claude as their backend AI enigne)

Here’s what makes it special:

• Chat: Ask coding questions, clarify errors, and get real-time explanations.
• Composer: Generate, refine, and organize code based on detailed prompts.
• Bug Finder: Copy error messages from your terminal into Cursor, and it will troubleshoot and suggest fixes.

It’s a tool designed to complement your coding process, whether you’re building from scratch or improving existing projects.

Key Takeaways and Tricks for Making the Most of Cursor

What stood out the most about Cursor was how important it is to guide it with precision. It’s not about letting AI take the wheel but about partnering with it. The clearer you are with your prompts and your vision, the better results you’ll get. Summarize everything based on my learnings and online browsing I did while working on this app.

To maximize what Cursor could do, I followed a few key practices:

• Start with a Clear Plan: Before writing any prompts, I sketched out the app’s flow, features, and UI design. Whether you use tools like Figma, V0 or just pen and paper, having a plan helps Cursor understand exactly what you want (if you are PM I recommend use the same approach as your writing specs)
• Tailor Prompts to Your Tech Stack: Cursor supports multiple languages and frameworks. For my app, I used prompts specific to Next.js and React, ensuring the code it generated matched my needs. https://cursor.directory/ — Amazing resource of getting pre-written prompts, I used this as a base and asked Claude to modify it on my needs.
• Link Documentation: By linking official documentation directly into Cursor, I received detailed, up-to-date responses that improved both the code quality and my understanding of the tech. You can use the @doc feature to tag documents or links. Fun fact: you can also use the chat section to ask questions if you’re having a hard time understanding things.
• Use Screenshots for Guidance: For UI fixes or specific functionality, I shared screenshots to explain what I wanted to adjust. For example, I had an issue with aligning buttons in the recipe list. Cursor generated a fix that improved both alignment and spacing.

One major takeaway? Iteration is key. Cursor might not get it right the first time, but each iteration brings you closer to your goal.

The App I Built: Vibey Meals Planner

The Vibey Meals Planner app is designed to suggest meals based on the user’s mood and meal type — breakfast, lunch, snacks, etc. The idea came from my personal struggle with deciding what to eat.

Features:

• Filters recipes by mood and meal type.
• Allows users to search by ingredients. For example, typing “beans” shows all recipes with beans.
• Displays recipe suggestions with links to full details, scraping content from my three favorite food bloggers.

You can check out the hosted version of my app here: Vibey Meals Planner.

How I Built My App

Building Vibey Meals Planner with Cursor was a step-by-step process that required creativity and collaboration with the tool:

Planning the Idea

I started by defining the app’s purpose: a meal planner that offers recipes based on mood and meal type. I drafted user flows, wireframes, and outlined key features like:

• A mood selector for users to indicate how they’re feeling.
• A recipe list that includes links to full instructions.

Setting Up the Code Base

Cursor’s Composer feature helped me create the foundational code structure:

• I specified Next.js and React as my tech stack. Cursor generated the boilerplate code, saving hours of setup time.
• I asked Cursor to build a basic layout with a search bar and buttons for selecting meal types. It generated a functional starting point almost instantly.

Adding Features and Refining UI

This step was all about making the app functional and visually appealing:

• Ingredient Filters: I prompted Cursor to implement a feature where recipes are tagged with keywords. For example, when I typed “beans,” the app returned all relevant recipes.
• Scraping Recipes: Cursor helped me pull recipes from three food blogs and included clickable links in the app.
• UI Improvements: I had trouble aligning the “View Recipe” and “Show More” buttons. By sharing a screenshot, Cursor provided precise adjustments to fix the alignment.

Before the UI fix

After the UI fix

Debugging Errors

Debugging required effort, but Cursor’s Bug Finder was invaluable:

• When I ran into a JSON parsing error during recipe scraping, Cursor walked me through a solution step-by-step.
• For UI issues, I used browser dev tools to inspect elements and copied error logs into Cursor. It simplified the debugging process and taught me to troubleshoot effectively.

Testing and Hosting

After refining the app locally, I hosted it on GitHub for easy sharing and testing. Hosting the app made the entire project feel polished and real.

Challenges and Limitations

It wasn’t all smooth sailing. Debugging and refining required patience. Cursor sometimes needed multiple prompts or adjustments to deliver the correct output. For example:

• Resolving a JSON parsing error took several attempts.
• Pushing updates to production wasn’t as straightforward as I hoped.

Cursor is a fantastic tool, but it’s not a one-stop solution — especially for absolute beginners. Understanding error logs and tweaking the code requires some prior knowledge. However, it’s a powerful assistant for those willing to put in the effort.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Cursor is a fantastic tool that bridges the gap between idea and execution. It’s not just for developers — it’s for anyone with an idea who wants to see it come to life faster. For me, it was a game-changer, helping me build my Vibey Meals Planner app while also teaching me new technical skills along the way.

If you’ve ever felt intimidated by coding (like me) or have an app idea you’ve been sitting on, I highly recommend giving Cursor a try. It’s not perfect, but it’s a powerful tool for experimentation and learning. Welcome to the new age of AI, also I might or might not have used ChatGPT to transcribe my takeaways and help write this article faster.

Have you tried Cursor or similar tools? I’d love to hear about your experiences and what you’ve built with it!