AI Planning Secrets: Build Apps Faster

Summary

When building with AI, proper planning, often involving a detailed back-and-forth with the agent before entering plan mode, is crucial for success. Instead of a single prompt, engage in multiple conversations to clarify your vision and discuss trade-offs. Once confident, use plan mode not to build immediately, but to create a detailed markdown file documenting the plan. This file serves as a personal reference, especially when working on multiple projects in parallel, ensuring you remember your exact intentions. A practical example involved planning a mobile companion app for Pluto. This required extensive dialogue to define features like an agent inbox, push notifications, and approval flows, ultimately deciding on a cross-platform Expo app to balance native feel with development efficiency. The process emphasizes iterative discussion and context building for the AI, leading to a more accurate final product and saving significant time during the actual build phase.