With a surplus of time, I felt motivated and decided to rekindle my interest in Python. 🐍 I started with a refresher course using coddy.tech, only to be halted by a please pay moar message after a few sections of the first lesson.

So, I decided to try out “AI coding” and see how far I could get without having to open a Cursor editor.

I signed up for a paid Bolt account and started playing around 🚀

I aimed to create a Python learning center to refresh my skills and a simple web app others could use.

The Spec

  • Python Learning Platform web application
  • Database for storing users, lessons, and progress
  • Authentication and some security considerations
  • It should be easily hosted and deployed to Netlify
  • Integrate Google Gemini into the application to help with the learning process

The Plan

  • Initial prompt for creating the application
  • Supabase database (this is what Bolt uses)
  • Integrate Gemini
  • Iterate, iterate, iterate
  • Deploy the application to Netlify

The Prompt

Unfortunately, I lost the initial prompt while iterating, but this is the final prompt Bolt suggests using to rebuild from scratch.

# Python Learning Platform Build Request

Create a modern, interactive Python learning platform with the following core features:

## Core Technologies
- React 18+ with TypeScript
- Vite for build tooling
- Supabase for backend/auth
- Tailwind CSS for styling
- Pyodide for in-browser Python execution
- Google's Gemini AI for explanations
- i18n for internationalization
- Xterm.js for terminal emulation

## Key Features

1. Authentication System
- Email/password authentication
- User profiles with preferences
- Admin dashboard
- Role-based access control

2. Interactive Learning
- Live Python terminal using Pyodide
- Structured lessons by difficulty
- Progress tracking
- AI-powered explanations using Gemini
- Code execution history
- Dark/light theme support

3. Memory Game
- Python concept matching game
- Multiple difficulty levels
- Achievement system
- Score tracking
- Leaderboards

4. Admin Features
- User management
- Content management
- Analytics dashboard
- Contact form management
- Email notification system

5. Database Schema
- User metadata
- Lesson content
- Progress tracking
- Game statistics
- Contact submissions
- Email templates
- Security logs

## Technical Requirements

1. Security
- Row Level Security (RLS)
- Rate limiting
- Input validation
- Error handling
- Secure email system

2. Performance
- Optimized bundle size
- Lazy loading
- Efficient state management
- Caching strategies

3. UX/UI
- Responsive design
- Loading states
- Error boundaries
- Accessibility
- Dark mode support

4. Internationalization
- Multi-language support
- RTL support
- Locale-based formatting

## Development Environment
- ESLint configuration
- TypeScript strict mode
- Proper CORS settings
- Development server configuration
- Build optimization

Please ensure all components are production-ready, fully typed, and follow best practices for security and performance.

Time to “code”

I started this project at 10:28 and had a working version by 15:23

My journey with this project began with a less specific prompt. I was eager to see what Bolt could do for someone who didn’t know how to code. I started with the base web app, intending to create a Python learning platform. I iterated until the admin dashboard and login worked correctly.

Next came iterating on lessons to get the AI to generate them. Adding Gemini was a pretty easy integration using Bolt. Google also provides a hefty number of free transactions through Gemini

The platform would have been usable at this point. You could have signed up, started learning, and used a terminal local to your machine. The lessons are introductory, but it’s content. I wasn’t satisfied, so I continued iterating and adding more features

As I continued, the application started to bloat and required prompt after prompt to fix the issues encountered with each new feature change/fix. I attempted to add a terminal to the lessons with some success, but there are still bugs to fix

I also added a gamificsupaation element to the platform with a memory game to help learn Python concepts. Building the game was a fun integration, but the AI could not initially generate the workable content. I had to add structure to the prompt to get it correct

Overall, it took me about 5 hours to spend my daily allotment of tokens and get the application to a satisfactory state

Success

While the application is not perfect, I’m happy with the result.

You can check it out here

Lessons learned

  • Be intentional and descriptive with your prompts. They are expensive
  • Bolt can handle many prompt iterations simultaneously, but it’s best to let your operation complete before starting another

Bolt is awesome 👍