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ChatGPT

The whiteboard that writes back. Great for thinking, planning, and one-off scripts.

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ChatGPT hero illustration
Overview

What ChatGPT is for

ChatGPT is the most general-purpose AI assistant. It's not bolted to a codebase or an editor — it's a conversation. That makes it perfect for the messy, exploratory part of building: shaping an idea, drafting a plan, debugging a stack trace, or generating a one-off script you'll paste somewhere else.

Think of ChatGPT as the whiteboard you brainstorm with before you open a real builder. It won't ship the app, but it will help you decide what to ship.

Honest take

Strengths and trade-offs

Watch out for
  • No live preview — you copy/paste code yourself
  • Forgets context across sessions unless you remind it
  • Can hallucinate APIs, package names, and CLI flags
Where ChatGPT shines
  • Extremely flexible — code, copy, plans, explanations
  • Fast iteration with no setup
  • Strong at debugging when you paste error + relevant code
  • Vision: paste screenshots and ask 'what's wrong with this UI'
Workflow

A typical session

How a beginner gets value out of ChatGPT on day one.

  1. 1
    Step 1
    State the goal
    One sentence: what you're trying to do.
  2. 2
    Step 2
    Drop in context
    Paste code, errors, or screenshots.
  3. 3
    Step 3
    Ask for options
    Request 2–3 approaches with trade-offs.
  4. 4
    Step 4
    Pick one and refine
    Iterate until the answer is concrete.
  5. 5
    Step 5
    Take the output to your real tool
    Lovable, Cursor, or your editor.
Worked examples

Three things to try

Copy any of these prompts and adapt them to your project.

Example 1

Plan a side project

You have an idea but don't know what to build first.

Prompt
I want to build a tool that helps freelancers track invoices. Help me scope an MVP I can ship in a weekend. List the 5 most important features in priority order with reasoning.
Outcome

A ranked feature list, a suggested data model, and a concrete plan for day 1 vs day 2.

Example 2

Debug a cryptic error

Your build fails with a vague TypeScript error.

Prompt
Here's the error and the offending file. Explain what's wrong, why TypeScript complains, and the smallest fix that doesn't disable strictness.
Outcome

A plain-English explanation of the type mismatch and a one-line fix.

Example 3

Generate a quick script

You need to rename 200 files in a folder.

Prompt
Write me a Python script that renames every file in ./photos from 'IMG_1234.jpg' to '2024-vacation-001.jpg', '2024-vacation-002.jpg', and so on. Dry-run first.
Outcome

A safe script with a dry-run mode you can review before running for real.

Best for

  • Planning the architecture before you build
  • One-off Python or shell scripts
  • Rewriting copy, explaining errors, generating SQL
  • Learning a concept by asking 'explain like I'm five'

Pricing

Free tier with access to a capable model. ChatGPT Plus (~$20/mo) unlocks the latest models, longer context, vision, file uploads, and custom GPTs.

Pro tips

  • Always paste the actual error message, not a paraphrase of it.
  • Ask for 'three options with trade-offs' instead of 'the best way'.
  • Tell it your level: 'I'm new to React' changes the whole answer.
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