The complete beginner’s guide to coding with AI: from PRD to generating your very first lines of code

This episode is for complete beginners. I walk you through how to build your very first coding project using AI tools—even if you’ve never written a line of code. Together, we’ll create a personal project hub that automatically generates documentation and lets you build interactive prototypes. I’ll show you the process step by step—from setting up a repository, to creating AI agents that help with specific tasks, to deploying a functional web app locally. What you’ll learn: - How to set up a simple Next.js application from scratch using Cursor’s AI agent capabilities - My workflow for creating AI agents that generate consistent documentation (like PRDs in Markdown format) - How to build and display clickable prototypes without worrying about complex backend functionality - The basics of using GitHub to track changes and manage your code repository as a non-technical person - Why starting with a personal project hub is the best way to ease into AI-assisted coding - My favorite practical tips for iterating on designs and functionality using AI tools—without needing deep technical expertise — Brought to you by: ChatPRD—An AI copilot for PMs and their teams — In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Introduction (05:11) Starting with a requirements document in ChatPRD (08:22) Attempting to use v0 for initial prototyping (15:02) Pivoting to Cursor for initial prototyping (20:20) Running the app locally and reviewing the initial version (24:07) Setting up GitHub for version control (27:09) Creating an AI agent for writing PRDs (31:04) Using the agent to create a sample PRD (35:00) Building a prototype based on the PRD (37:00) Testing and improving the prototype (40:00) Adding documentation and improving the design (43:20) Recap of the complete workflow — Tools referenced: • Cursor: https://cursor.com/ • ChatPRD: https://www.chatprd.ai/ • v0: https://v0.dev/ • GitHub Desktop: https://desktop.github.com/ • Next.js: https://nextjs.org/ • Tailwind CSS: https://tailwindcss.com/ — Other references: • Lovable: https://lovable.ai/ • Bolt: https://bolt.new/ • Claude Code: https://www.claude.com/product/claude-code • Markdown: https://www.markdownguide.org/ • GitHub: https://github.com/ — Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [redacted email].