Intro: Taking Our App from Prototype to Production
In this chapter, you will build the initial prototype of Radio Pulse — a fully functional online radio station web application. By the end of these 9 lessons, you will have a working app with audio streaming, now playing display, recently played history, album art, and user ratings.
The Development Plan
Here is our sprint roadmap for this chapter:
| Sprint | Lesson | Deliverable |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | What We Are Building | Understand the full application architecture |
| 2 | Setting Up the Environment | Express.js + SQLite project scaffold |
| 3 | A Note on AI Non-Determinism | Calibrate expectations for AI output |
| 4 | Vibe Coding the Initial Prototype | Basic web player UI and streaming |
| 5 | Simplifying the Player Widget | Clean, focused player component |
| 6 | Adding Now Playing | Real-time track display |
| 7 | Recently Played + Album Art | Track history with visual elements |
| 8 | User Ratings Feature | Interactive rating system |
| 9 | Polishing the Prototype | Final cleanup and testing |
The Key Principle
We are building iteratively. Each lesson adds one feature, and we verify it works before moving on. This is exactly how professional developers use Claude Code in real projects.
Key Takeaways
- This chapter builds the complete Radio Pulse prototype in 9 incremental sprints
- Each lesson produces a working, testable deliverable
- By the end, you will have a functional web radio player with multiple features