How I Build

AI-Powered Apps,
No Dev Team Required

A quick look at what I'm building, the tools I use, and how it all fits together — from idea to live web app.

See the Stack View Apps

What I'm actually doing

I'm not a professional developer — I'm someone who figured out how to build real, working web apps by combining the right tools. Here's the honest overview.

🤖

AI writes the code

I use Claude (Anthropic's AI) to generate all the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for my apps. I describe what I want, it writes the code. I review, refine, and ship it. No coding from scratch.

Make.com handles the backend

Instead of writing server-side code, I use Make.com to wire everything together — receiving form submissions, calling AI APIs, saving data, sending emails, and responding to users. All visual, no backend code.

🗄️

Airtable is the database

Every app stores its data in Airtable. It's a spreadsheet-meets-database that Make.com can read and write to automatically. User submissions, AI outputs, usage logs — all in one place.

🚀

GitHub deploys the site

My website is plain HTML files stored in a GitHub repository. Every time I push a change, GitHub Actions automatically uploads the files to my web host. Changes go live in under a minute.

From idea to live app

Here's the rough process for how a new app gets built and shipped.

1

Idea & Design

I describe the app to Claude — what it should do, how it should look, what the user experience is. Claude generates the full HTML/CSS/JS in one shot. I iterate on it in conversation until it looks and works the way I want.

2

Wire up the backend in Make.com

I build a Make.com scenario (a visual workflow) that receives data from the app, runs it through an AI model (like Claude or OpenAI), saves the result to Airtable, and sends the response back to the user — often with a follow-up email too.

3

Connect front-end to back-end

The app's HTML sends a POST request to a Make.com webhook URL when the user submits a form. The webhook triggers the automation, which processes the request and returns a result. It all happens in seconds.

4

Deploy via GitHub

I drop the HTML file into my GitHub repository, push it, and GitHub Actions FTP-deploys it to Bluehost automatically. The app is live on my website within a minute of pushing.

5

Monitor & iterate

Airtable gives me a live view of every submission and AI response. Google Analytics tracks usage. If something needs tweaking, I update the code or the Make.com scenario and redeploy.

Tools & platforms I use

Every tool here was chosen because it lets me move fast without needing a dev team or writing server-side code.

🧠
Claude (Anthropic)
AI Code Generation + App Logic

My primary AI for writing code. I describe what I want in plain English and Claude generates the full HTML/CSS/JavaScript. It also powers several of my apps as the AI engine running inside the Make.com scenarios.

Code generation Content AI API
Make.com
Automation + Backend

The backbone of every app. Make.com is a no-code automation platform where I visually build workflows (called scenarios) that receive webhook calls from my apps, run AI, save data to Airtable, and send emails — without writing any server code.

No-code Webhooks Automation Backend logic
🗄️
Airtable
Database + Data Storage

Every app stores its data here. When a user submits a form, Make.com saves the input and AI output to an Airtable base. I can see all submissions in real time, filter them, export them, or pull them back into other automations.

Database Records Reporting
📁
GitHub + GitHub Actions
Version Control + Auto-Deploy

All my site files live in a GitHub repository. A GitHub Actions workflow watches for pushes to the main branch and automatically FTP-deploys every file to Bluehost. Push code → it's live. No manual uploads, no FTP clients.

Git CI/CD Auto-deploy
🌐
Bluehost
Web Hosting

Standard shared hosting where the site lives. GitHub Actions deploys files here over FTP on every push. The .htaccess file handles HTTPS enforcement, clean URLs, browser caching, and legacy redirects.

Hosting FTP .htaccess
💻
Claude Code (CLI)
Development Environment

Claude Code is a terminal-based AI coding assistant that I use inside VS Code. It can read my entire codebase, make edits across multiple files, and deploy changes — all through conversation. It's how I actually manage and update the site day-to-day.

AI assistant VS Code CLI
📊
Google Analytics
Usage Tracking

Embedded on every page to track visits, page views, and user behavior. Helps me understand which apps get traction and where people drop off.

Analytics Traffic
✉️
Email via Make.com
User Notifications

After processing a user's request, Make.com sends a follow-up email with the AI-generated result. No email service setup required — Make.com handles the send using built-in email modules.

Transactional email Automated

How the technical pieces connect

For the more technically curious — here's exactly how a user request flows through the system.

🏗️

The Front-End: Pure HTML/CSS/JS

Every app and page on the site is a standalone .html file. There's no React, no Vue, no build step, no node_modules. All CSS and JavaScript is written inline inside each file. When I need a new feature, I update one file.

This keeps things simple, fast, and easy to understand. Any browser can run them. Any server can host them. Claude can read and edit them directly.

The Request Flow: Front-End → Make.com → Airtable → Email

Every AI-powered app follows the same 3-step automation chain:

User submits form ──POST──▶ Make.com Scenario 1
                          (Webhook → AI → Respond → Airtable → HTTP)
                                            
                                            
Make.com Scenario 2 (Email Generation)
    (Airtable lookup → Format → Send Email → Update record)

Scenario 1 handles the user-facing response — it calls the AI, gets a result, and responds to the browser immediately. Then it fires an HTTP call to Scenario 2 in the background, which sends the user a formatted email with their result.

🔐

Webhook Security

Every fetch call from the front-end to Make.com includes a secret token in the request payload. On the Make.com side, a Token Guard filter rejects any request that doesn't match. This prevents the webhook URLs from being abused by anyone who finds them.

📱

PWA Apps (installable on your phone)

Two apps — Voice Todo and Voice Todo Dashboard — are Progressive Web Apps (PWAs). That means you can add them to your phone's home screen and they work like native apps. They use service workers for offline caching and have custom app icons.

Service workers are registered at the root of the site so they have full scope. The strategy is cache-first for static assets (fast loads) and network-first for Make.com webhook calls (always fresh data).

🚀

Deployment Pipeline

The GitHub Actions workflow (.github/workflows/deploy.yml) runs on every push to main. It uses FTP-Deploy-Action with credentials stored as GitHub Secrets. The entire site is synced to Bluehost over FTP automatically — no staging, no manual steps. Push → live.

The apps

A growing collection of web apps, all built with this same stack.

Voice Todo
PWA Make.com Airtable

A voice-powered to-do list that records your tasks by voice, transcribes them, and syncs everything to Airtable. Installable on your phone like a native app.

Open app →
Voice Todo Dashboard
PWA Make.com Airtable

A companion dashboard for Voice Todo showing task analytics, completion rates, and a full task history pulled live from Airtable.

Open app →
SEO Blog Post Generator
AI Make.com

Enter a topic and get a full SEO-optimized blog post generated by AI. The result is emailed to you and saved to Airtable for review.

Open app →
Kid-Friendly Story Book
AI Make.com Airtable

Parents enter a child's name and interests, and AI generates a personalized illustrated story. Designed for kids ages 4–10.

Open app →
Elementary Reading Buddy
AI Make.com Airtable

An AI reading companion for elementary students that generates comprehension questions and reading-level content tailored to the student.

Open app →
Social Spark
AI Make.com

AI-powered social media content generator. Input your topic and tone, get ready-to-post content for multiple platforms.

Open app →
Tailored Social Post
AI Make.com

Generate platform-specific social posts tailored to your brand voice and audience with AI assistance.

Open app →
Business Dashboard
Airtable Make.com

A KPI and metrics dashboard that pulls live data from Airtable and visualizes it for quick business overviews.

Open app →

Want to talk about any of this?

I'm happy to walk through how any of these pieces work in more detail.

Get in touch