A Methodology Guide
Build with Claude Code
like a hackathon winner.
Six battle-tested phases for going from blank repo to production app. Learned by shipping zenith.chat at the Anthropic + Forum VC hackathon and building financial dashboards with live market data.
The Planning Phase
Don't write code first. Fire off research subagents. Deep dive on domain and OSS prior art. Zero code — human creativity and SME.
Interactive Specification
Collaborative plan on why, what, how. Clarifying questions, risks, ambiguities, and decision points.
Product Plan with Stories
Linear + MCP for visibility. User stories with ACs, Definition of Done, and e2e workflow tests for complex flows.
The "Indispensable" Prompt
"What would turn this from impressive to indispensable?" The single question that elevates every project.
Browser-Based Visual QA
Programmatic checks are necessary but NOT sufficient. The critical lesson from the turbulence dashboard build.
Case Studies
zenith.chat (Anthropic hackathon winner) and the Moomoo turbulence dashboard — real projects, real lessons.