Start with your idea

Type what you want in one sentence and let the agent figure out the details - you don't need technical language or perfect specs to get started.

Words you'll see on Emergent

Four words come up on every page after this one, here's what they mean:

• Job: one app or task, with its own chat, code, and preview. Everything you build lives inside a job.
• Preview: your private, working copy of the app, updated live as the agent builds. Only you see it.
• Publish: the button that takes your app live on the internet, at its own permanent address. (Re-publish pushes later updates.)
• Credits: what powers everything: the agent's work bills per usage, and keeping an app live has a monthly fee. Full picture in How credits work.

Where you start

On the home screen, pick an app type, Full Stack App, Mobile App, Landing Page, or Brainstorm, then type your prompt in the composer. (The composer also has a Build / Plan switcher, more on that in Talk it through first.) The app type is fixed for that job, so if you're unsure which fits, ask in a Brainstorm first or see Talk it through first.

Anatomy of a first prompt

A good first prompt has three ingredients:

1. What - the core purpose in one sentence ("a book tracker," "a habit logger," "a quick notes app")
2. Who - who uses it (just you, a team, customers)
3. One core action - the main thing people do ("add books and mark them read," "check off daily habits," "save notes with tags")

You can add more - design preferences, a list of fields, how it should feel to use - but those three pieces are enough to start.

Example prompts

Book tracker:

Build a book tracker app where I can:
- Add books with title, author, cover image URL, and rating
- Mark books as read or unread
- Filter by read status
- Search by title or author

Design: Clean and minimal, good use of whitespace.
How it should feel: Fast to add a new book - prefer a floating action button and inline form.

Habit tracker:

Build a habit tracker where I can:
- Add habits with a name and daily checkbox
- Mark each habit complete for today
- See a streak count for each habit

Design: Warm and colorful.
How it should feel: One-tap to check off a habit.

Expense logger:

Build a simple expense logger where I can:
- Add expenses with amount, category, and date
- Filter by category
- See total spent this month

Design: Modern, dark mode preferred.
How it should feel: Fast data entry - prefer inline form at top of list.

Each of these prompts produces a working app with a database, a look and feel, and a preview URL. Publishing to a live URL requires a paid Publish (minimum 50 credits), see Publish your app.

What NOT to worry about

When you're starting out, skip these details - the agent handles them for you:

• Tech stack - the agent picks the tools for you (React, MongoDB and more) automatically
• Database structure - field types, indexes, and relationships are inferred from your description
• File structure - components, routes, and connections to other services are organized for you
• Design polish - you can refine colors, spacing, and layout after the first version is built

Focus on what the app does and how it should feel. The agent translates that into working code.

Fill-in-the-blank template

Copy this template and fill in the blanks to write your first prompt:

Build a [type of app] where I can:
- [core action 1]
- [core action 2]
- [core action 3]

Design: [visual style or mood]
How it should feel: [how it should feel to use]

Example:

Build a recipe organizer where I can:
- Add recipes with title, ingredients, and instructions
- Tag recipes by cuisine or meal type
- Search by ingredient or tag

Design: Clean and modern
How it should feel: Easy to scan and quick to add new recipes

Paste your prompt into the composer and send it, in Build mode the agent starts working right away.

You'll see a working app in under 20 minutes.

If something looks wrong

After the first build, test the app in the preview pane. If a feature is missing or broken, describe the issue in chat - the agent will fix it. When you're ready to take it live, see Publish your app.

For more on the full workflow, see the next article in this path.

Go deeper: What kind of apps you can build? · What is a Job?