Beginner guides.
No background assumed. What a database, a domain or an environment variable actually is, and how to get an app you built with AI online and keep it there.
276 posts · page 12 of 12
Which Database Should an AI-Built App Use?
The AI will happily pick a database for you — sometimes a file on disk that disappears on the next deploy. What the choice actually is, why Postgres is the right default for almost every app, and the mistakes that lose data.
Backups for Beginners: How to Not Lose Your App's Data
Your code is in Git. Your users' data isn't. What actually needs backing up, the 3-2-1 rule, why a backup you've never restored doesn't count, how often to back up, and a simple backup plan for a small app — including what to do before letting an AI agent near your database.
Authentication vs Authorization: What's the Difference?
Authentication checks who you are. Authorization checks what you're allowed to do. Mixing them up is behind many of the worst security holes in AI-built apps. A plain-English explanation with the hotel analogy, the mistakes to look for, and a five-minute test.
Anatomy of a URL: What Every Part of a Web Address Means
https://app.example.com:8080/orders/42?sort=new#details has seven parts, and each one matters when you build an app. The scheme, subdomain, domain, port, path, query string, and fragment, explained — plus URL encoding and why some characters turn into %20.
Analytics for Beginners: What to Measure in Your First App
You launched. Is anyone using it? What web analytics and product analytics are, the handful of numbers that matter for a new app, privacy-friendly tools that don't need a cookie banner, how to track events, and how not to drown in dashboards.
AI Hallucinated a Package: Fake Libraries, Made-Up APIs, and Slopsquatting
AI coding tools sometimes invent packages, functions, and settings that don't exist — and attackers now register the fake package names. Why it happens, how to spot hallucinated imports and APIs, what 'slopsquatting' is, and the habits that keep invented code out of your app.
How to Add Stripe Payments to an AI-Built App Without Getting Burned
AI tools will happily wire up Stripe in a way that looks finished and lets anyone pay $0.01 for your product. The four rules that make payments safe — server-side prices, verified webhooks, idempotent fulfilment, and a real live-mode test — explained without the jargon.
How to Add Login to an AI-Built App (Without Building It Yourself)
Authentication is the one feature you should never let an AI write from scratch. What 'login' actually involves, the three sensible ways to add it, and the checks that tell you whether the login your AI tool built is protecting anything at all.
Web Accessibility Basics: Making Your App Usable by Everyone
Accessibility means people using screen readers, keyboards, magnification, or captions can use your app too. The common failures in AI-built apps — missing labels, div buttons, poor contrast, keyboard traps — how to test for them in ten minutes, and the prompts that fix them.
You Built an App With AI. Now What?
The AI wrote your app in an afternoon. Getting it online, with a real database, that doesn't leak your API keys, is where most people get stuck. A plain-English guide to what happens after the code exists.
What Is an Autonomous Development Platform?
An Autonomous Development Platform gives AI agents and developers a persistent, managed environment to build in — not just a place to generate code. Here's what separates the category from AI code generators, PaaS, and cloud IDEs.
Cloud Development Environments vs Local Setup: An Honest Comparison
Cloud development environments fix onboarding, parity, and machine sprawl — and introduce latency, cost, and offline problems. A practical breakdown of when each one wins, without the vendor spin.