73 Comments
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Kurt Schmitt's avatar

This looks great! Very cool. For requirements: I've been using Ryan Carson's 3-file system for creating requirements and getting the AI to create the task list before coding starts.

It's designed for features and branches, but I've adapted the process to my workflow for building full apps. It's still a work in progress, but I usually start with a conversation with the AI about the tech stack and key requirements and then move into the 3-file system.

As for prompts, I have a domain name that I bought some time ago that's been waiting for me to fill it with prompts. I've been thinking about ramping that up, so your Chrome extension is kind of timely.

Karen Spinner's avatar

I haven’t seen Ryan Carson’s system; it sounds cool, I will check it out! Also, now I’m curious what you’re building… 🤔

Kurt Schmitt's avatar

Haha! Well, I have a number of projects I want to tackle. I was building a Loom clone, but it turned out to be way too involved, so I put that on hold. Instead, I'm building a much simpler version for audio, but it's still somewhat tricky.

In the meantime, I got distracted because I've been setting up my "author command center" in Typing Mind and I've also been automating away the everyday things that bog me down.

Ryan explains his system here (the Github link is there as well): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD4ktSkNCw4

Phil Powis ❤️⚡️'s avatar

this looks like its worth watching as a novice vibe coder here. thanks for sharing Kurt!

Kurt Schmitt's avatar

You're welcome. There is also a tutorial with Ryan on Peter Yang's YT channel that takes you through it. The gotcha is that it's designed for features, so it assumes you already know the thing you're building, whether app, Chrome extension, mobile app, etc. and you have that base code in place. So, it assumes you already know the tech stack (NextJS, Python, etc.).

What I do is start out with a conversation with the AI and use it as my consultant to help me decide all that up front stuff. Then I use the 3-file system to build the first feature and beyond.

I'm trying to get it so I can share the process with others so someone working solo and starting from scratch could use it. The LLM asks questions and then suggest the approach to the solution, the stack, and so on. Once you agree, it starts building. It will probably be a 5-file system or something like that. lol

Karen Spinner's avatar

Thanks for walking through this!

Finn Tropy's avatar

Hey Karen,

sounds like you have another winner 🏆!

If you continue shipping products at this rate, you may need to develop a Chrome extension manager 😊

Karen Spinner's avatar

I’m curious to see where this one goes. I might need to look at SEO for this one, since it may have some appeal beyond Substack! 🤔

Finn Tropy's avatar

It absolutely does.

I added Google Analytics tags to my Gumroad store and Substack publications to get more visibility in the traffic, demographics, and conversion rates. This was about 7 weeks ago and I'm already seeing patterns that are useful.

I was looking at their APIs earlier this week, with the idea of adding another data source to Stackcontacts.

Another thing you might want to look at is PostHog. They have a great free tier that covers a lot of usage events and gives you feedback on feature level activity. Just adding PostHog call on errors has saved me a lot of time in support.

Karen Spinner's avatar

Nice! Yes, setting up custom domains, GA etc. is on my to do list for my Gumroad store and my Substack. I’m planning to do this before I build anything else. 😂

Will definitely look at PostHog! Thank you for the tip! 🙏🤗

Aniko's avatar

I second the PostHog recommendation. 👍

AI Meets Girlboss's avatar

Karen, you amaze me every single time!! 🩷🦩

Karen Spinner's avatar

Thank you! 🥰

Marcela Distefano's avatar

I did it Karen!! Thanks so much. Now I have to find the prompts where only God knows where I saved them

Karen Spinner's avatar

You’re very welcome! 🤗 Let me know if you have any questions!

Lukas Soukup's avatar

Thank you for sharing! I had a similar idea and built an iPhone app called PromptKit for keeping, organizing and creating new prompts.

Karen Spinner's avatar

Very cool! ✨

Lukas Soukup's avatar

🙏

Stuart Feilden's avatar

I've been utilizing Obsidian

Karen Spinner's avatar

That will also work!

Sovereign Insight Strategies's avatar

Thank you for creating and sharing. This is fantastic!

Karen Spinner's avatar

You’re very welcome! 🥰

Aniko's avatar

Great idea and execution, Karen, thanks for sharing. 🖤

I always start with specs first, too. They are not just a good practice to save on credits, time and sanity when coding with AI, but they are a great reminder of what's what as well, for when I go back to a prototype I haven't touched for a while. 😂

I do the planning with ChatGPT, so I keep the tech stack more general, to use with different vibe coding tools. It's more of a PRD then, I guess.

Karen Spinner's avatar

You’re very welcome! 🤗 I think there’s definitely some overlap between a “spec” and a PRD. The product info is good context for Claude…or me if I’m coming back to a project after a long break. 😆

Brian Taylor's avatar

This is very nice! Excellent work! I have been working on a similar thing. An app, not a browser extension. I have drawn some inspiration from several tools. Yours has certainly added a number of ideas! I am a very experienced retired software engineer, vibecoding away my retirement, lol. The Tag idea is great! I have seen it done by other apps and really think it fits well for prompts. Thanks for sharing!

Karen Spinner's avatar

Thank you! 🙏Now I’m curious to see what you end up building. 🤔

Brian Taylor's avatar

I will share.

Matt Tilmann's avatar

Thank you for creating and sharing this Karen!

Karen Spinner's avatar

You’re very welcome! 🤗

Chris Tottman's avatar

What an inspiration you are Karen. Thanks for 2025 and I'm excited about what I learn from you in 2026 🌟

Karen Spinner's avatar

Appreciate the kind words! 🙏❤️

Denise Wakeman's avatar

This is terrific. I don't understand all the tech stuff, but I know how to add a Chrome Extension and your instructions are clear. This is a fantastic tool. I'm a fan! Thank you, Karen.

Karen Spinner's avatar

You’re very welcome! ❤️ So glad you’re enjoying it!

Marcela Distefano's avatar

Thanks Karen! I will try! It happens a lot that I was reading on my phone or at work, and I think: yey, I will try this prompt and then as I am at work, I forget the prompt and who wrote it 🤦‍♀️. I guess this post was meant to me 😆.

Karen Spinner's avatar

Yes! That’s exactly why I built this. 😂 If you do try it, let me know how it goes!

Melissa Penton's avatar

Very cool Karen! I’ll definitely be trying this extension. Also, as a non-product builder, your writing makes it’s so easy to flow along and learn. 👏

Karen Spinner's avatar

Thank you! 🙏🤗 If you do try it, let me know how it goes!

Cris Cafiero's avatar

Super smart product

Karen Spinner's avatar

Thank you! 🙏

Data Frank's avatar

I’ve wrestled with scattered prompts myself, and seeing how you iterated in real work vs. theory resonates.

I’ve been experimenting with ways to streamline AI workflows too, would love to swap notes share ideas sometime and compare approaches.

Karen Spinner's avatar

That sounds great! Now that I can keep prompts organized and more easily create variants, I will be experimenting a lot more.

Data Frank's avatar

Sure

Share your calendar let’s setup a call

Karen Spinner's avatar

Will follow up via DM!

Data Frank's avatar

I will be expecting you