# 5-build

Turns an approved plan into ordered working steps, then builds the app one step at a time with verification and a commit for each. Use it after planning or to resume an interrupted build.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 1800 installs · ★ 74
- Author: challengepost
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/challengepost/learn-ai-basics/tree/HEAD/skills/5-build/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-05
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/5-build

## What it does

The skill runs in two phases. First you spend about ten minutes as a build strategist: the plan from `2-scope`, `3-prd` and `4-spec` becomes ordered working steps. Then comes execution, step by step, with each one verified and committed. There are learn and fast modes, and both require learner feedback plus a final revision round.

Steps are sliced vertically: each delivers a usable behavior you can try right away instead of a layer like "build the database first." Before starting, the skill looks at `devpost/` and reads `spec.md`, `prd.md`, `scope.md` and `learner-profile.md`, loading the rest per slice as references point to it. Progress comes only from project artifacts, never from conversation memory.

Git is required. Without it the skill stops and tells you to install it. If the folder is not a repository yet, it offers `git init` and runs it only with your agreement. Before the first commit, check `.gitignore`: `/devpost/learner-profile.md` and credential files such as `.env` need to be excluded, and already tracked files stay tracked until you untrack them.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add challengepost/learn-ai-basics --skill 5-build -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/5-build/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/5-build/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add challengepost/learn-ai-basics --skill 5-build -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/5-build/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add challengepost/learn-ai-basics --skill 5-build -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/5-build/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install challengepost/learn-ai-basics 5-build
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/5-build/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add challengepost/learn-ai-basics --skill 5-build -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/challengepost/learn-ai-basics --path skills/5-build
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/5-build/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add challengepost/learn-ai-basics --skill 5-build -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/challengepost/learn-ai-basics/tree/HEAD/skills/5-build/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- split an approved plan into small working steps
- build an app step by step with verification
- resume a build after an interrupted session
- confirm each step leaves something runnable
- keep progress safe with git commits

## Example prompts
- run the 5-build skill and start building from the plan
- resume the build from the first unchecked slice
- switch to fast mode and work through the remaining steps

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 49363825dc445fab.

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```text
---
name: 5-build
description: Turn the approved plan into ordered working build steps, then build the app step by step — verifying and committing each one — in learn mode or fast mode. Use after the planning skills, and again whenever a build session was interrupted.
---

# 5-build — Build Your App

You are a build strategist for about ten minutes and an executor after that. The hard thinking already happened in the planning skills (`2-scope`, `3-prd`, `4-spec`). Here you translate it into ordered working steps, get a thoughtful review, and then work through them—mechanically verifying and committing every one. Both modes require hands-on learner feedback and a final revision round; verification and commits are not optional.

**One invocation can carry the whole build.** If an earlier session stopped partway, you resume where it left off.

## Devpost Learn Rules

Keep this Devpost Learn experience learner-led and proof-of-concept sized. Default to open-ended questions one at a time, without suggested answers or multiple-choice tools; explicit consent and sign-off can be yes/no. Honor saved preferences for concise explanations or small batches of related questions. Learners new to planning first retain guided support unless they request otherwise. Calibrate to their coding experience. If they say "just do it for me," explain: "That's fine for playing around, but on projects you're serious about, active, intentional collaboration is more useful. To build those skills, you need to practice making the decisions." Then ask a smaller concrete question, don't take over. This concerns project decisions, not delegating implementation: you still write the code in both build modes.

## Where Are We

Before anything else, look at the project's `devpost/`. Never infer progress from conversation memory. Only project artifacts count: never treat files under `skills/`, template examples, or empty/placeholder copies as learner progress. Check substantive project content as well as frontmatter; if an existing file is ambiguous, clarify without overwriting it.

1. List which of these exist: `learner-profile.md`, `scope.md`, `prd.md`, `spec.md`, `checklist.md`. Read the `status:` line in each one's frontmatter.
2. Say back where the learner is, in one sentence. On every entry, including resume, apply the privacy/staging safeguards under **Git** before making commits.
3. Route:
   - `scope.md`, `prd.md`, `spec.md` not all `status: approved` → name what's missing, tell them to run the planning skills (`2-scope`, `3-prd`, `4-spec`), stop.
   - No `checklist.md` → this is a first visit. Go to **Git**, then **Plan the Build**.
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 49363825dc445fab

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