How to get started with Bolt.new: setup, first project and tips
Bolt.new (Bolt for short) is an AI app builder that runs in your browser: you describe the app you want in plain words, it builds it, and you publish it to a real web address. There's nothing to install. This guide takes you from sign-up to your first published app, then covers three habits that keep bigger projects on track. Every step comes from Bolt's official help center, and you don't need to know how to code to follow it.
Checked
Ready-to-paste prompts
Replace the parts in [brackets] with your own details.
Build your first app
Paste this into the chatbox on bolt.new and click Build now to start a new project.
Build a [type of app, e.g. recipe saver] app where people can [main thing they do, e.g. add recipes with a photo and ingredients]. Include [the pages or parts you want, e.g. a home page, a list of recipes and a search bar]. Use realistic sample content. Make it [the look you want, e.g. clean and friendly] and make it work well on mobile.
Add sign-up and saved items
Paste this in Build Mode once the first version works, when you want people to have accounts.
Add email sign up and log in, and let logged-in users save [what they save, e.g. favorite recipes]. Show their saved [items] on a [page name, e.g. My favorites] page. Don't change anything else.
Report something that's broken
Paste this when something in the preview doesn't work the way you expect.
On [the page or section, e.g. the sign-up page], when I [what you did, e.g. click Create account], [what happens, e.g. nothing happens]. It should [what you expected, e.g. log me in and show my favorites]. Please fix just that.
Plan a bigger change first
Use this with Plan Mode switched on (click Plan in the chatbox) before a change that touches several parts of your app.
I want to add [the feature, e.g. a way to share a recipe with a friend by link]. Look through my project and give me a step-by-step plan of what you'd change and anything I should decide first. Don't change any code yet.
1. Open Bolt and create your free account
Bolt works in a Chrome or Chromium-based browser, such as Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera or Vivaldi. Open bolt.new, type your idea into the chatbox and click Build now. Bolt then asks you to sign in or sign up with Google, GitHub or email, and no credit card is needed. Answer the short survey and Bolt starts building.
Bolt measures its work in tokens (think of them as Bolt's effort: it uses them to read, think and build), and the free plan has a daily limit. Check the Bolt.new tool page on StackShip for current plans.
2. Describe your first app
Say what the app is, what people can do in it and what it should save. Bolt works out on its own whether your app needs a database (a place to store data like user accounts or saved items) and sets one up for you. The first build takes a few minutes, a bit longer when you ask for sign-up and login. When it's done, try the app in the Preview window.
3. Keep an eye on your tokens
Bigger and more complex apps use more tokens. To see what each prompt costs, click your profile icon, then Settings, then General, and turn on Display token usage in chat. Your remaining tokens then show above the chatbox. Subscription & Tokens in the same settings menu shows your full balance.
4. Test it like a real user
Click every button and try every feature. If your app has sign-up, create an account with made-up details and use the app while logged in. To see the data your app saved, click the database icon at the top of the screen and open a table. If something doesn't work, tell Bolt what you did, what happened and what should happen instead.
5. Fix small things by pointing at them
For small visual changes, click the Select icon in the chatbox and pick the exact part of the page. You can type a prompt about it, such as "Change the title to PetPick", or edit text, colors and styles straight in the preview. Visual edits are batched above the chatbox and only use tokens when you click Save changes.
Source: support.bolt.new/get-started/quickstart, support.bolt.new/building/visual-edits
6. Publish to a live link
Click Publish in the top-right corner, then click the second Publish button. After about a minute a link appears in the chat: that's your live site, on a free web address ending in bolt.host. Your live site doesn't update by itself. After more changes, open the Publish menu and click Update. Use these buttons rather than asking Bolt to publish in the chat, because the buttons don't use tokens.
On the free plan every published site is public, so anyone with the link can see it.
Source: support.bolt.new/get-started/quickstart, support.bolt.new/bolt-cloud/hosting/publish
7. Talk it through in Plan Mode first
Plan Mode lets you ask questions and plan changes without Bolt touching your code. Click Plan in the bottom-right corner of the chatbox (it turns blue when it's on), then ask away. Bolt reads your whole project and can look things up on the web. When you're happy, a button like Implement this plan switches back to Build Mode and makes the change. Click Plan again to turn it off.
8. Undo a wrong turn with version history
Bolt saves versions of your project automatically. Click the project title in the top left, then Version history, pick an earlier version, click Restore this version and confirm with Restore version. Restoring doesn't use tokens.
If you edit the code yourself in Code view, version history doesn't cover those changes, so stick to small text edits there at first.
9. Give Bolt standing instructions with Knowledge
Instead of repeating yourself in every prompt, write it down once. Click the gear icon at the top of the screen, then All project settings, and add Knowledge: your app's goal, style, words to use and rules to follow. Bolt then uses it automatically on that project.
Tools in this guide
FAQ
Do I need to know how to code to use Bolt.new?
No. You describe what you want in plain words and Bolt builds it, including the database if your app needs one. You can open the code in Code view, but you don't have to.
Why doesn't my live site show my latest changes?
Publishing doesn't update automatically. After you make changes, open the Publish menu and click Update to put them live.
How do I undo something Bolt changed?
Click the project title, then Version history, pick an earlier version and click Restore this version. It doesn't use tokens, but it doesn't cover edits you made by hand in Code view.
Sources
- Bolt Help Center: QuickStart guide: https://support.bolt.new/get-started/quickstart
- Bolt Help Center: Make visual edits: https://support.bolt.new/building/visual-edits
- Bolt Help Center: Publish your project: https://support.bolt.new/bolt-cloud/hosting/publish
- Bolt Help Center: Plan Mode: https://support.bolt.new/prompting/plan-mode
- Bolt Help Center: Project settings: https://support.bolt.new/settings/project-settings
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