Well I started making my Flow Spark app yesterday, and today I finished it with the help of ChatGPT and vibes. It includes:

• Codeigniter 4 backend running on Apache 2
• PicoCSS and Javascript frontend. Originally I specified HTMX but there is no real frontend interactivity. All requests go to the backend, which is fine for such a simple app
• A beta code invite system
• Sign in, sign out, and forgot password flows
• A main borderless photo screen with action buttons
• A settings page for deleting photos
• Affirmations once you have viewed 10 photos
• Basic PWA functionality that allows me to install the app on my Pixel phone and use it almost like a native app
• Some admin stuff that only I see

Now I have an opportunity to start testing and using it over the next few weeks, to see if my initial impulse was right. Will this be something that I use daily? Will it enhance my creativity?

The build strategy document that we started out with worked well. I experienced only two major issues with ChatGPT while doing this project:

1. ChatGPT didn’t always refer to the correct number on the build strategy document. To get it back on track, I reiterated portions of the document.
2. About 2/3rds the way through, ChatGPT started slowing down and becoming confused about past decisions. There was not really any fix for this. The context window had gotten too large. I asked it to summarize the project so far and started a new thread. That helped with the speed, but it also meant I had to upload portions of the code and schema, because it was making educated but wrong guesses.

This is where a dedicated IDE like Cursor would be helpful, because the current code is always in view by the AI. It would also be quicker to update the code, instead of me copying and pasting. For a project of this size, I don’t mind. I’m learning as I go, even when I’m just cutting and pasting. And I was able to solve some issues where ChatGPT was simply making wrong choices or not seeing simple fixes. In that sense it was like pair programming where both of use were contributing our skills.

Would I do it again this way. Yes absolutely!