From blank screen to a full-stack AI resource hub — auth, community, prompt library, tools directory, newsletter, and 400+ prompts — built entirely in conversation with an AI.
By Michael J. · March 2026 · oneplaceforai.com
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20+ Sessions |
10 Days to Build |
400+ Prompts Created |
15+ Features Shipped |
The Idea
The AI space is noisy. There are thousands of tools, hundreds of thousands of prompts scattered across the internet, and no single place that brings it all together in a clean, curated way. That gap was the seed for OnePlaceForAI.com.
The concept was simple: a resource hub where people could discover AI tools, browse and copy production-ready prompts, read AI news, and connect with a community of people who use AI every day. Simple in concept — but a full-stack web application in practice.
What made this project unusual wasn't the idea. It was how I built it.
The premise: I would build the entire site in conversation with Claude — no agency, no freelancer, no pre-built CMS. Just me describing what I wanted, and Claude writing the code.
The Approach: Build-in-Public With an AI
I want to be clear about what this project was and wasn't. I'm not a developer. I understand technology, I know what I want, and I can read code well enough to spot when something is wrong — but I wasn't writing PHP, SQL, and CSS from scratch. Claude was.
What I brought to the table was product vision: knowing what features mattered, what order to build them in, how the user experience should feel, and what needed to be fixed when something broke. Claude brought the technical execution.
Every feature was built through a conversation. I'd describe what I wanted, Claude would write the code, I'd test it on my server, report back what worked or broke, and we'd iterate. Across 20+ sessions spanning 10 days, that loop produced an entire production website.
The stack: PHP (server-side), MySQL (database), vanilla CSS with a custom design system, JavaScript for interactivity. Hosted on a standard shared server running Apache with phpMyAdmin for database management.
What We Built: Phase by Phase
| Phase | Date | What Was Built |
| Phase 1 | Feb 27 | Site architecture, database schema, CSS design system, homepage |
| Phase 2 | Feb 27 | Prompt Library — browse, filter, search, individual prompt pages |
| Phase 3 | Feb 27 | Full auth system — login, register, Google OAuth, password reset |
| Phase 4 | Feb 27 | Prompt features — save, like, submit, edit/delete, Prompt of the Day |
| Phase 5 | Feb 27 | Admin panel — dashboard, user management, categories, settings |
| Phase 6 | Feb 27 | AI Tools Directory — browse, detail pages, submit, save, reviews |
| Phase 7 | Feb 28 | AI News — RSS integration, auto-fetch, article pages |
| Phase 8 | Mar 1 | Static pages — About, Contact, Privacy, Terms, admin inbox |
| Phase 9 | Mar 1 | Community (Reddit-style) — posts, voting, comments, channels |
| Phase 10 | Mar 2 | Affiliate tracking — /go/ redirects, click analytics dashboard |
| Phase 11 | Mar 2 | Newsletter system — weekly digest, subscribe, admin send flow |
| Phase 12 | Mar 2-3 | Content — 400+ prompts across 17 categories added |
| Phase 13 | Mar 8 | Quality audit — security review, bug fixes, schema patch |
DEEP DIVE
The Build, Feature by Feature
1. Foundation: Schema, Design System & Homepage
Every serious web project lives or dies by its foundation, and the first session set the tone for everything that followed. We started with the database schema — designing tables for users, prompts, categories, models, and tools before writing a single line of frontend code.
Alongside the schema, Claude built a custom CSS design system from scratch: CSS variables for colours, typography, spacing, and border radii; a dark theme with a black/navy surface palette; an electric-cyan accent. The homepage brought it all together with a hero section, animated stats, featured prompts, and a newsletter signup.
Key decision: Building a design system first meant every page that followed had a consistent visual language.
2. Prompt Library
The prompt library was the core feature and the first real test. It needed to do a lot: browse by category, filter by difficulty, search by keyword, sort, and paginate. Claude built the browse page, the individual prompt view, the copy-to-clipboard API, and the like/save system — all in a single session.
3. Authentication System
The system we built includes local email/password auth with bcrypt hashing, Google OAuth integration, email verification, and role-based access control. Every database query uses prepared statements. Passwords are hashed with bcrypt at cost factor 12. Session handling follows secure practices throughout.
Security note: During our quality audit, we confirmed zero instances of raw user input being passed directly to SQL queries.
4. Admin Panel
A site is only as manageable as its admin tools. The admin panel covers: a dashboard with live stats, user management, prompt management with publish/unpublish, tools management, news management, and site settings. Every admin page is protected by auth_require_admin().
5. AI Tools Directory
The tools directory introduced five new tables. Tools could be filtered by category, pricing tier, and sorted by featured or highest rated. The affiliate system built on top of this logs clicks with IP and user agent before forwarding to the affiliate link.
6. Community (Reddit-Style)
In one session, Claude produced a full Reddit-style forum system: channels, posts with rich text, upvote/downvote voting, and nested comments. The database tracks individual votes so the score is always accurate and reversible.
7. Newsletter System
The system includes: a weekly digest builder that pulls top content automatically; a token-based subscribe/unsubscribe flow; a send queue with batch sending; and an admin preview panel.
8. Content: 400+ Prompts Across 17 Categories
Every prompt follows a set format: title, description, [PLACEHOLDER] variables, and difficulty. Categories covered: Business, Marketing, Creative Writing, Technical, Coding & Dev, SEO & Growth, and more.
What Worked Brilliantly
- Incremental building. Each session had a clear scope. Clarity meant productivity.
- Journalled sessions. Claude maintained a rolling journal so we never lost context.
- The design system. Defining CSS variables in session 1 meant consistency came for free.
- Security-first. Prepared statements and password hashing were in the first draft.
What Was Harder Than Expected
- CSS conflicts. Class collisions required careful inspection of the cascade.
- Email rendering. Rebuilding to a table-based light template for Outlook took a full session.
- Long-session context. Long threads occasionally saw loss of detail; regular summaries were the fix.
What I Learned About Building With AI
Describe outcomes, not implementations
Describing the user experience gave Claude the context to make good implementation decisions.
The AI is the developer; you are the product manager
My job was to know what to build and in what order. Claude’s job was the how.
What's Next for OnePlaceForAI
The site is live and growing. Roadmap includes prompt ratings, user reviews, and expanded channels.
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