The landscape of application development is rapidly changing, with AI-powered tools empowering even non technical users to build faster and more intuitively than ever before. Imagine describing your app idea in a simple conversation and watching it materialize in seconds, complete with a fully functional database. This is now possible with Create, a text-to-app builder that works with out-of-the-box support for 50+ integrations such as Stripe, ElevenLabs, Google Maps, Stable Diffusion, OpenAI, and more.
This guide will introduce you to Create and demonstrate how you can use it to make building database-backed applications incredibly easy and fast. We'll walk through creating a simple AI Image Generator, showcasing how you can go from a text prompt to a functional, full-stack application.
Create & Neon
Create leverages Neon as the database backend for its AI-powered app development platform. This integration delivers a fully managed database solution, which is fundamental to Create's rapid app development experience. By abstracting away database complexities, Create users can concentrate solely on their application's functionality and design.
This experience is immediately apparent during app creation. Neon's instant database provisioning lets users bypass database setup and and focus on developing their application. Neon operates invisibly in the background. To learn more about how Create.xyz uses Neon, see From Idea to Full Stack App in One Conversation with Create.
Prerequisites
Before you start, ensure you have a Create Account. You can sign up for a free account at create.xyz. The free plan is sufficient to follow this guide.
Vibe Coding Ahead 😎
Follow this guide only if you're ready to experience the future of app development through AI-powered tools. You'll be amazed at how quickly you can build a full-stack application with Create and Neon that really works!
Building an AI Image Generator app
This app will allow users to generate images using Stable Diffusion, view them in a gallery, and track download counts for each image. We'll leverage Create's AI capabilities to build this app in minutes without writing a single line of code.
Start a new project
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Navigate to the Create.xyz website and log in to your account.
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Click on "New Project" to begin. You'll be presented with the builder interface.
Describe your app
In the chat window, describe your app idea. For example, you can say, "Create a Stable Diffusion powered image generator. It should also show the past image generations."
Create will immediately begin building your app based on your description. You'll see the AI agent working in real-time within the chat window, assembling all the necessary components and code for your application.
You can see that Create has provisioned a database for storing image URLs needed for your gallery feature. You can examine the database schema directly in the chat window by clicking on the SQL statements to view the structure.
You can verify the app's functionality by generating an image. Simply type your desired image description in the text field and click 'Generate.' You'll see your newly created image appear and automatically be added to the gallery display
Now that you've confirmed your app is functioning correctly, let's enhance it by adding a download counter feature that tracks the popularity of each generated image.
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If the app doesn't work as expected, provide specific details in the chat window to help Create understand the issue. For example, you can say, "The image generation is working, but the gallery is not displaying the images."
Continuous Iteration
You may want to add new features or refine existing ones as you iterate on your app. Create makes it easy to enhance your app by simply describing the new features you want to add. Let's add a download counter feature to track the number of downloads for each generated image.
In the chat window, you can say: "Allow users to download images and track the number of downloads for each image". Create will start adding the necessary components to your app to support this feature.
You'll see that Create has added a 'download count' column to your database. You can view the updated schema to see the change.
To test the new feature, download an image. Click the 'Download' button on any image in the gallery. You'll see the download count increase for that image.
You've successfully built an AI Image Generator with download tracking! Now, you can customize it further. Enhance the UI, add features like user authentication, or integrate services such as Stripe to charge $1 per generated image. Just say, 'Add Stripe so users pay $1 per image,' to get started.
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You will need to connect your Stripe account to Create to enable the Stripe integration. Follow the onboarding steps to connect your Stripe account and complete the integration.
Finally, you can deploy the app by clicking on the "Publish" button.
Version history for restoring a past version of your app
Create.xyz offers a robust version history. This feature enables instant restoration to any past version of your, in case you need to rewind.
To restore a past version:
- Browse Chat History: Find the desired version in your chat conversation.
- One-Click Restore: Click on that version.
- Publish: Click 'Publish' to deploy the restored version.
Create.xyz instantly switches your app back to that earlier state.
Tips for building apps with Create
To make the most of Create and build apps efficiently, consider the following tips:
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Prompting Best Practices:
- Context is key: Start prompts with clear context. For example describe the app's purpose and main features. For example say, "I want to add a new feature to allow users to download images."
- Iterate in small steps: Break down complex changes. For a whole new page, start by describing the header, then the body, then the footer in separate prompts. This gives you more control.
- Show, Don't just tell: Use images! Paste screenshots or drag and drop images into the chat to show Create exactly what you want the style or layout to be wherever possible.
- Pinpoint errors: Be specific when things go wrong. Instead of saying "it's broken", paste error messages or describe exactly what you expected to happen vs. what did happen.
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Leverage Create's integrations:
- Explore the Integration library: Create has many integrations ready to use. Type
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in the chat to see them. Integrations include AI models, UI libraries, and services like Stripe. - Choose the right AI model: Experiment with different AI models for different tasks. For example, use Stable Diffusion for image generation, OpenAI/Claude for text generation etc.
- Explore the Integration library: Create has many integrations ready to use. Type
Resources
- Create.xyz
- Create.xyz Docs
- From Idea to Full Stack App in One Conversation with Create
- Create.xyz Templates
- Create.xyz Community
Need help?
Join our Discord Server to ask questions or see what others are doing with Neon. Users on paid plans can open a support ticket from the console. For more details, see Getting Support.