Starting Your First Session
Your first /start sets up the project, plans every epic, and starts building the first one. It takes a few minutes of questions and one approval before any code is written.
Before you start
Section titled “Before you start”Put your materials in the documentation/ folder: specs, designs, API schema, sample data. This step is optional. If the folder is empty, Claude asks you questions in the chat instead. See Preparing Your documentation/ Folder.
What happens when you type /start
Section titled “What happens when you type /start”- Setup. Claude asks how to handle git commits and pushes, and starts installing dependencies in the background. See How Claude Handles Git.
- How to start. Choose Share what I have to work from your
documentation/folder, or Let’s build requirements together for a guided conversation. - Reading your materials. Claude reads everything in
documentation/, including any design files. - Three questions. Claude asks about user roles, sign-in and your backend. See the table below.
- Connection test. If your backend is running, Claude checks it can reach it, so a wrong URL or credential shows up now rather than mid-build.
- The plan. Claude writes the project setup and breaks your requirements into epics. Anything that blocks the plan is raised one question at a time.
- Your approval. Claude opens the project setup and epic plan in your browser. Review, edit if needed, and approve.
- The first epic. Claude creates the first epic’s branch and proposes its stories. Once you approve them, the build begins.
The three questions
Section titled “The three questions”| Question | Options |
|---|---|
| Which roles template fits your app? | SaaS Standard (Owner, Admin, Member, Viewer), Internal Tool (Admin, User), Marketplace (Buyer, Seller, Moderator), Editorial (Editor, Author, Contributor, Reader), or your own roles |
| How will users sign in? | Backend for Frontend (BFF), frontend-only with next-auth, or a custom approach |
| Is your backend API running? | Yes, it’s running. No, it’s still in development. Or there’s no backend API. |
Claude pre-selects answers it can work out from your materials. You can refine any of them when you review the project setup.
Sign-in options in more detail:
- Backend for Frontend (BFF): your backend handles login and logout and sets the session cookie. Claude asks for the login, user info and logout URLs. This is the recommended option.
- Frontend-only (next-auth): Next.js handles sign-in directly. It protects your pages, but API calls don’t carry the user’s session.
- Custom: describe your approach and Claude works with it.
Your backend answer decides whether Claude builds a mock backend. See Mocking vs. Real Backend.
Claude also looks for compliance areas in your materials, such as payment card data, personal data, health data or multi-tenant data. It lists what it finds in the project setup for you to confirm or correct.
After the first epic
Section titled “After the first epic”When the first epic has merged, type /start to build the next one. To plan an epic while another is building, use /plan. See Planning Ahead With /plan.
For the full list of commands, see the Command Quick Reference. To change something mid-build, describe it in the chat. See Managing Changes.