Choose a workspace for building with AI
Know the difference between an AI app builder, an IDE, and the project you are creating.
By the end, you can open a starter project in a browser builder or an AI-enabled IDE, find its preview, and choose a first safe task.
Step 1: Find the app you are editing
An editor is your workbench; the project folder is the box containing one app. An IDE is an editor that helps open files, run the app, and inspect problems. A browser builder may manage more setup for you. Before requesting changes, establish which project you are opening and how its preview works.
Step 2: Separate workspace, project, and preview
The workspace contains the assistant and editing tools. The project contains screens, behavior, data connections, and settings. The preview is the app you can try. Ask for the project folder, the preview command or button, and the address it opens. A remote chat cannot open your localhost address without a local connection.
Step 3: Ask for one visible task
Open a sample project with fictional data. Ask the assistant to explain how to preview it before it runs commands. Choose one heading change on one page. Replit, Lovable, Base44, and AI editors are examples; use each vendor’s current documentation for available tools.
Step 4: Check the right project changed
Open the specified preview and page. Compare the heading with your , then inspect the change list. If unrelated screens or dependencies changed, ask why before accepting. A polished preview does not prove data access or payments are safe.
Do not edit yet. Identify this project folder, its preview command or button, and the address I should open. Explain before running commands. Propose changing only the catalog heading, then show the change list and the page to check. Illustrative before / after (behavior, not ready-to-run code): - Generate accounts, payments, and every screen + Identify project → preview → change one catalog heading
Check the project name and page address yourself. The assistant’s summary is useful context, not proof that you opened the correct app.
Sources and further reading
You have opened an AI editor but have not selected a project folder. Before asking it to build a booking app, what should you do?
Choose one answer.