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Weekend Ship Checklist

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🌊 Friday Night — Scope & Commit 0/5
Write a one-sentence problem statement scope "[Target user] struggles with [problem]. My app does [one thing] so they can [outcome]." Paste it into your README now.
Define one core action a user can complete scope The single thing that makes the weekend worth it. Everything else is a stretch goal.
Pick a stack you already know scope Weekends are for shipping, not learning frameworks. New tech = double the time estimate.
Write your CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md first AI Stack, conventions, what the AI should and shouldn't do. 5 minutes here saves hours of AI drift later. Use the free generator →
Create the repo and push a blank README Public repo = accountability. The README is your north star for the weekend.
☀️ Saturday Morning — Build the Core 0/6
Start with the happy path — no edge cases yet AI Tell the AI: "Build only the happy path. No error handling, no edge cases, no auth yet." You'll add those after it works.
Build in vertical slices, not horizontal layers AI Feature-complete thin slices beat a perfect database schema with no UI. Users → DB → UI is backwards for weekend builds.
Commit every working state "It works but is ugly" is a commit. "Works + styled" is a commit. Branches are free insurance.
Use AI to write tests, not to debug vibes AI Ask for unit tests on the core logic once the happy path works. The AI catches regressions; you stay focused on features.
Keep prompts small and focused AI One task per AI message. "Add X" not "Add X, Y, Z, and refactor everything". Small prompts = predictable output.
Mid-morning check: is the core action working end-to-end? By 11am the one core thing should work. If not, cut scope further. Shipping 60% of a small scope beats 10% of a big scope.
🔁 Saturday Afternoon — Wire It Together 0/5
Use managed auth — never build it from scratch ship Clerk, Supabase Auth, NextAuth, Auth0. Custom auth costs a full day. Managed costs 20 minutes.
If charging money: Stripe Checkout, not custom payment forms ship Stripe Checkout in 1 hour. A compliant custom form is never a weekend project.
Pick one AI API and wrap it in a single function AI One function: input → AI → output. Keep it replaceable. You can swap providers later; shipping Sunday is the goal now.
Set env vars properly — no credentials in code .env + .gitignore. Check with `git status` before every push.
End-of-day Saturday: full run-through from zero ship Fresh incognito tab. Do the one core action. Does it work? Fix blockers before Sunday.
🚀 Sunday Morning — Deploy & Polish 0/6
Deploy to a real URL by 11am ship Vercel, Netlify, Railway, Fly.io. Localhost is not shipped. A live URL you can share is. Ship before you polish.
Add a real custom domain (optional but worth it) Namecheap + Vercel = 15 minutes. A .com reads as serious; a vercel.app reads as a prototype.
Nail the homepage headline: one-sentence value prop "[Verb] [outcome] for [person]." No jargon. Test: can your non-technical friend explain it back?
Set up basic error monitoring ship Sentry free tier, Vercel Analytics, or Plausible. You can't fix what you can't see.
Submit to at least 2 directories ship Product Hunt (schedule for Monday), Uneed, Indie Hackers, There's an AI for That. Free backlinks + initial traffic.
Do a final fresh-tab run-through before sharing Clear cookies, new incognito window, complete the full user journey. Fix any showstoppers. Then share.
📢 Sunday Afternoon — Tell People 0/5
Post in one relevant Reddit / community thread honestly r/SideProject, relevant subreddit. Lead with the problem, not the product. "I built X because I was frustrated with Y" performs better than "Check out my app".
Write a short build-in-public thread or post Show the before/after. Show a real screenshot. What you learned. What broke. Authentic > polished for launch posts.
DM 5 people who have the problem you're solving Not "check out my app" — "I built something that might solve [their specific problem]. Would you try it?" Warm DMs convert; cold blasts don't.
Set up a simple email capture if there's no signup Mailerlite free tier, Beehiiv, or a simple Supabase insert. Even 50 emails from launch day is a real asset.
Write one sentence of honest feedback you got What did the first user actually say? What was confusing? That's your roadmap. Ship → learn → iterate.
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The Vibe Coding Blueprint

A 40-page no-fluff guide for developers shipping real products with AI. Covers AI-first workflows, scoping frameworks, prompt engineering for feature work, and the exact process behind shipping an app end-to-end in a weekend. With 10 ready-to-run prompt templates and a starter CLAUDE.md.

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