Guided build · ~15 min
Savings-goal tracker
Set a goal, log deposits, watch a bar fill toward it.
No commands. No code. You're about to build this by SAYING what you want — in your own language. The only skill is describing the result well. Here's the whole thing, start to finish.
Set a goal, log deposits, watch a bar fill toward it.
First, how to actually talk to the agent
- 1Describe the RESULT, not the tech: what's on screen, what each button does, what gets saved. The agent handles the 'how'.
- 2Be concrete about screens and fields — 'a form with amount, category and date' beats 'let me add expenses'.
- 3Ask for the smallest working version first. You grow it by talking afterwards — that's Step 2, not the first message.
- 4Decide what's YOURS, not the agent's: name the categories, colours, rules. Don't make it guess what only you know.
Step 1 — Build it live
Prompting for this kind of tool
- 1For a savings-goal tracker, spell out the setup card (goal name, target amount, target date) and the ONE big visual: a progress bar showing saved-versus-target with the percentage AND the amount still left — don't just say 'show progress', name both numbers.
- 2Describe the status line in plain words: 'tell me the monthly amount I still need to put away to hit the date, and whether I'm ahead of or behind pace.' That on-pace math is the heart of it; decide the rule yourself rather than hoping Claude infers it.
- 3Add 'everything stays on my device, nothing is sent anywhere' — your goal and balance are nobody's business but yours.
- 4Always end with the magic line: 'build the whole thing and tell me exactly how to open it; don't stop to ask questions.'
claude --dangerously-skip-permissions
Open the terminal and run this (if Claude is already running, type /exit first). Then ask it to make a folder for this project and work inside it.
✕ what most people type
you ▸ save money for me
✓ what actually works — copy it, or better, say it in YOUR words
you ▸ Build me a savings-goal tracker. A setup card takes the goal
name, target amount and target date; a big progress bar shows
how much I've saved versus the goal with the percentage and
amount left. I log deposits with a date and amount in a running
list, and a status line tells me the monthly amount I still need
to hit the date and whether I'm ahead or behind pace. Everything
saves on my device. Clean, motivating look. Build the whole
thing and tell me exactly how to open it; don't stop to ask
questions.Say it in YOUR language — Russian, Spanish, anything. Claude understands.
Build it now — tick as you go
0/6Step 2 — It's built. Now make it yours
Don't panic at the techy link. Claude tells you one of two things. Either a file like index.html — find it in your project folder and double-click it; it opens in your browser. Or a web address starting with http://localhost — copy it into your browser's address bar and press Enter. 'localhost' just means 'this is running on your own computer right now'. That's your tool. It's real.
Now tweak it until YOU like it — just talk
This is the part that makes it YOURS. Don't accept the first version — change it by saying what you want, right there in the same chat. Claude rebuilds and you refresh. Keep going until it fits how you actually work. For this tool, try things like:
you ▸ let me set several goals and switch between them you ▸ tell me if I'm behind the pace to hit the date you ▸ celebrate with confetti when I hit 100%
I don't type long messages. I open voice-to-text (the mic in ChatGPT, or your phone keyboard), and just TALK through everything I think about what it built — what's wrong, what I want next — then select-all, copy, and paste the whole brain-dump into Claude Code. Messy spoken thoughts work fine; the agent sorts them out. It's several times faster than writing.
Step 2.5 — Test it like a real thing (it won't be perfect first try)
The truth no one tells beginners: the first build is a DRAFT. The agent makes something, you run it, you find what's off, you tell it — and THAT loop is the actual work. Don't read the code. Use the tool like a stranger would and watch where it lets you down. For this tool, check exactly this:
- 1Open it (Claude gives a localhost link or an index file — see Step 2), set a goal like '2000 by December', then log two deposits with dates.
- 2Watch the progress bar: does it fill to the right percentage (your deposits divided by the target) and does 'amount left' equal target minus what you've saved? If not, the math is your first fix.
- 3Read the status line — given your target date, is the 'monthly amount still needed' a sensible number, and does it correctly say whether you're ahead or behind?
- 4Refresh the page (F5 / Cmd-R). Are your goal and both deposits still there? If they vanish, 'saves on my device' isn't wired up — fix that next.
- 5Log a big deposit that pushes you past 100%. The bar should cap nicely at full and the tool should clearly say you've hit the goal — not show 137% in a broken bar.
Found something wrong? Say it like this
You fix nothing yourself — you DESCRIBE what's wrong in plain words and the agent fixes it. Be specific: what you saw vs. what you expected. Real examples for this tool:
you ▸ 'the progress bar and percentage don't match my deposits — recalculate them from the total saved every time I log one' you ▸ 'when I refresh the page my goal and deposits disappear — save everything on my device so it stays' you ▸ 'the monthly-amount-needed is wrong — divide the amount still left by the number of months until my target date, and tell me if I'm behind'
Don't stop at v1 — grow it
A tool you built in ten minutes is a starting point, not the finish line. The people who get hooked keep saying 'now also…'. Each line below is one sentence you paste into the same chat to level this tool up:
you ▸ 'let me set several goals and switch between them, each with its own bar' — one tool for the holiday, the car and the rainy-day fund. you ▸ 'celebrate with confetti and a message the moment I hit 100%' — the payoff that makes you want to keep logging. you ▸ 'draw a faint pace line on the bar showing where I should be by today, so being behind is obvious at a glance' — turns a number into a feeling. you ▸ 'let me set a regular monthly auto-deposit so the bar projects forward and shows my finish date' — answers the real question: when will I get there?
Step 3 — Connect it to the world (optional)
Free data & APIs for this one
An API is just how your tool pulls in outside data or sends things out — many are free. You rarely need to research them yourself; the move that works for ANY idea is to ask the agent to find them:
- 1To start you need NO external API — the goal, deposits, percentage and pace math all run locally on your device.
- 2Saving toward something in another currency (a trip, a foreign purchase)? A free rates API like exchangerate.host or Frankfurter (no key) can show your target in both currencies — ask Claude to wire one in only if you need it.
- 3Reusable move for ANY idea: ask Claude — 'look up free or open APIs that fit a savings-goal tracker and tell me which actually need a key.' It will list them; you pick.
About paying for the AI parts
- 1You don't pay for Claude twice. With a Claude subscription you create an API key right in the terminal and use it inside your projects — within your plan.
- 2From June 15 the rule splits: automation through that key gets its own monthly credit — about $20 on Pro, $100 or $200 on Max. Stay under it and it works as before.
- 3Run out and you pay per use (pay-as-you-go); unused credit doesn't roll over. So check your account and see whether the included credit already covers what you're building.
A tool gets superpowers when it can talk to other services — send you a message, read a sheet, pull live data. Each service hands out an 'API key' (a long password that says 'this is me'). For THIS tool, the useful ones are:
Which keys this tool can use
- 1Telegram — nudge you on payday to log this month's deposit
Getting any key is the same recipe: log into the service → find Settings → 'API' or 'Developers' → 'Create key' → copy it → paste it to Claude once ('here's my key: …'). Claude stores it and you never touch it again.
Step 4 — Put it online (only if someone else needs it)
Just for you, on your computer? You're already done — skip this step with a clear conscience. Put it online only if someone ELSE should open it, or you want to reach it from your phone away from home.
Step 6 — Stay safe (two easy habits)
- 1Back up anything you'd hate to lose. If the tool holds real data (your budget, health log, client list), ask Claude early: 'add an export/backup button' — one click saves your data to a file. Do it before you ever rebuild from scratch or move the folder.
- 2Don't hand Claude the keys to dangerous rooms. Keep it pointed at this project's own folder. Never connect a learning project to your bank, your crypto, or anything irreversible. Receipts and calendars — yes. Savings — no.
- 3Think before you ask. Claude does what you say in the folder you're in. 'Optimize my photos' optimizes them; it won't delete them — unless you ask for something reckless. Sane requests, clean workspace, and there's simply nothing scary left.
The mistakes that stop most people
- 1Asking for something vague ('make me an app') and getting something vague back. Name the screens, the buttons, what gets saved.
- 2Cramming in ten features at once. Ask for the tiniest working version first — then grow it with follow-up requests.
- 3Stopping at the first error. An error isn't failure — paste it to Claude or describe what you see, and it fixes it. That loop IS the work.
- 4Deciding you need to 'learn programming first'. You don't need to understand the code Claude writes. You need to describe the result.
- 5Forgetting the magic line — 'build the whole thing, don't stop to ask questions' — then wondering why it keeps pausing.
- 6Building for an imaginary audience. Build the version YOU will open tomorrow. Polish never; use immediately.
Normal. Tell Claude what's wrong in plain words ('the button does nothing', 'the page is blank') or paste the red error text. It finds and fixes it. You check. Repeat until it works.
That's it. You built a real tool.
Notice what just happened: no commands, no code — words. This is the entire skill. The people who 'can build things' are just people who describe what they want and let Claude do the typing.
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