App the way you work — starting from exactly where you are.

If you can honestly check most of these, you're ready to build the smallest useful version. If you can't, the build will tell you the same thing — slower and more expensively.

• I can describe the one thing the app should do in a single sentence.If it takes a paragraph, it's two apps.
• I know exactly one real person who will use it.By name. Not a persona.
• I've done the job manually at least once.If you've never done it by hand, you don't yet know what to automate.
• I know what would make me say 'good enough to ship.'Write the bar before you start. Otherwise it moves.
• I've written down 2-3 things this app will NOT do.Scope is a fence, not a wish.
• I know where the data comes from on day one.Hand-entered, imported from a spreadsheet, pulled from an API — all fine. 'I'll figure it out' isn't.
• I've decided whether real users need to log in.If yes, it changes everything. Decide early.
• I have a first prompt I can paste into Lovable.Try Map my idea if you don't — it'll generate one for you.

The minimum bar before you put something in front of real humans. Not all of these are technical — most aren't.

• At least one real user (not me) has tried it end-to-end.Watch them — don't ask them. You'll learn 10x more.
• Login works, and a logged-out person can't see logged-in data.Open an incognito window and verify it yourself.
• No API keys or passwords are pasted into the code.Use the secrets/environment variables panel.
• I know what personal data the app collects and where it goes.Names, emails, addresses, anything from a form.
• When something fails, the user sees a useful message — not a blank screen.Try unplugging the wifi mid-action. That's a real user experience too.
• I've opened the app on a phone and it doesn't look broken.Even desktop-first tools get phone visitors.
• I know how to undo the last change if I break something.Version history is your friend. Find the button before you need it.
• Users have one obvious way to tell me when something is wrong.An email link is fine. Silence is not feedback.
• I've written down the top 3 things that could go wrong, and what I'd do about each.Boring. Saves you on a Sunday night.