Unpopular opinion: If your "AI-built app" needs a developer to fix it after 10 minutes, it's not a product. It's a prototype. Production apps need: → Error handling → Security → Monitoring → Deployment pipeline → Documentation That's what I build. That's what ZipBuild

This week I: → Finished automated onboarding flow → Added Vercel deployment guidance → Updated quality gates → Wrote 12 new debugging scenarios ZipBuild is getting closer to launch every day.

Here's what nobody shows you about building with AI: The first version always breaks. But if you have quality gates — checkpoints where you TEST before moving on — you catch problems early instead of debugging a tangled mess later. This is why my builds actually ship.

If you're building with Next.js + Supabase, here's the auth setup that took me weeks to figure out: 1. Server-side auth middleware (not client-side) 2. RLS policies on EVERY table 3. Email + OAuth + Magic link 4. Protected routes with proper redirects All pre-built in ZipBuild.

Apps I've built with the same methodology:  MyDealerTools — dealer management SaaS with FCA-compliant AI ads 烙 LYRA — AI model monetisation platform  Subit — contractor marketplace (Uber for trades) ️ Bytrade — digital presence for tradespeople  WelcomePack — Airbnb

Honest question for indie hackers: Would you rather have: A) A beautiful UI that doesn't work B) An ugly app that processes payments, handles auth, and scales Because most AI tools give you A and charge you for it.

The difference between a template and a methodology: Template: here's some code, good luck. Methodology: here's the code, here's how to extend it, here's how to debug it, here's how to deploy it, and here's how to make sure it's production-ready. I sell the second one.

Shipping update: Just finished the automated setup flow for ZipBuild. You open Claude Code, paste one prompt, and it: → Detects your project state → Installs dependencies → Configures your database → Sets up auth → Gets your dev server running No manual .env editing. No

Today's debugging session: Stripe webhook returning 400. The fix? One missing environment variable on Vercel. 45 minutes of panic. 10 seconds to fix. This is why I built debugging guides into ZipBuild. Check terminal → check browser console → check Vercel logs. In that order.

Here's what's inside the methodology I use to build every project: → Discovery protocol (what to build) → Architecture planning (how to build it) → ZIP build steps (one feature at a time) → Quality gates (nothing ships broken) → Security baseline (production-ready from day

Claude Code tip most people miss: Don't just paste your code and say "fix this." Give it a https://t.co/K1MVQUbJyO file that explains your project structure, conventions, and architecture. It goes from generic assistant → expert on YOUR codebase.

What's the biggest time sink when you start a new project? For me it was always: → Auth setup → Payment integration → Database schema → CI/CD pipeline That's why I automated all of it.

"I built an app in 5 minutes with AI!" Cool. Does it have auth? Payments? Error handling? Rate limiting? GDPR compliance? No? Then you built a demo, not an app.

I built 5 production SaaS apps using one methodology. Not "landing pages that look nice." Real apps. Real users. Real payments. I'm packaging that entire system into something anyone can use. Follow along 🧵