Bolt — AI App Builder

Overview

Bolt is a hosted AI builder: you describe an app in the chat, an agent writes the code, runs it in a live preview and can publish it. It builds JavaScript-based web apps (Node.js backends, any browser-side JS framework), and mobile apps through the Expo integration. Bolt Cloud supplies the built-in database, authentication, file storage, server functions, hosting and custom domains, so a first version needs no other accounts. There is no CLI or API to drive it; work happens in the browser at bolt.new. This skill is about how to use it well. Plans, token amounts and prices change, so read them in the Help Center (support.bolt.new) rather than from memory.

Instructions

1. Plan, then build

• Start in Plan Mode (a chat mode that discusses and plans without changing code). It sees your project, can search the web for current docs, and ends with an "Implement this plan" button that switches to Build Mode. Planning costs fewer tokens than building.
• Use the Enhance prompt button before the first build: Bolt may ask clarifying questions.
• Name the stack and the data in the first prompt. Bolt only supports JavaScript backends, so a request for a PHP or Python server will not work. For a phone app, include the words mobile app so Bolt picks Expo.

2. Choose an agent