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From idea to live app

Describe the app you want in your own words. Dus asks a few questions only you can answer, builds it, shows it running, and puts it live when you say so.

You don't need to know how apps are made. Say what you want, for example "a booking app for my barbershop where customers pick a time and pay a deposit", and Dus does the rest: it picks the technology, builds the app, tests it, and shows it to you running. You make only the decisions that are yours.

Start from an idea

1. Choose Start from an idea. It's on the first screen when no project is open, at the top of Projects, and under the suggestions in any project ("Or start a new app from an idea").
2. Describe what you want to build in a sentence or two. Not sure how to put it? Pick one of the examples and change it.
3. Dus names the project from your idea and puts it in your usual projects folder. To choose the name or the place yourself, select Change under the description.
4. Select Start building (or press Ctrl+Enter, ⌘Enter on a Mac).

A new, empty project in Builder starts the same way: its first screen asks you to describe what you want to build, and the app is built in that project.

A few questions, only yours

Dus reads your idea and asks only what it doesn't already say and what changes the app. That's never more than five questions, for example:

• what it should be called;
• who it's for;
• whether people need to sign in (no sign-in, an email link, or Google or Apple);
• whether people pay through it (no payments, one-off payments such as a deposit, or subscriptions);
• what it keeps about each person;
• which look fits it best, from a few visual directions.

Each question shows Dus's recommendation first. Pick an option, or type your own answer. If your idea already says something ("pay a deposit", "for my customers"), Dus doesn't ask about it.

Dus never asks you technical questions, such as which framework, database or library to use. It decides those itself, choosing proven technology that suits the kind of app, and tells you in plain words what it chose when it matters.

Watch it being built

When the questions are answered, Dus:

• creates the app and starts it in the Preview, so you can watch it take shape;
• builds the pages, the data and the main journey (for a booking app: pick a time, pay the deposit, see the confirmation);
• writes tests and runs them, then opens the app in a browser on a desktop and a phone size and walks through the main journey;
• for a bigger app, splits the work into parts that are built side by side (Lead mode).

Payments are built in test mode: no real money moves until you decide it should, and Dus asks you first. Sign-in links appear in the app's log while you try it, so no real emails are sent.

What works now

When the build ends, the result leads with What works now: each thing that works, how Dus showed it (for example "tested in the browser"), and a screenshot. Anything not finished is listed under What's left. Below it:

• Try it opens the app in the Preview.
• Change something puts your cursor in the message box: describe the change in your own words.
• Put it live publishes it when you're ready.

Put it live

1. Select Put it live.
2. Choose where it goes live. Dus recommends one and shows what each costs. A simple site can usually go live for free. An app that keeps data needs a small paid plan to stay on and keep its data. Choose Not now to keep it on your computer.
3. Dus asks for what only you can give, such as a sign-in token for the hosting service, with the steps to get it. Keys go straight into your encrypted vault; Dus never sees them.
4. Approve the first deploy. Nothing is published until you say yes on the card, which says what will happen and how to undo it.

When it's live, you get the live link, Dus checks the live app in the browser and checks that it's healthy, and the Proof of Work records the deploy. The link stays under the result as Live at …. To publish a change later, ask Dus to "deploy again". See Deploy for servers, other hosts and rolling back.

Prices come from each hosting service's public page and can change. Dus asks you before anything costs money.

Costs

Building an app uses more AI than a small change, so it may reach your task's spending limit. When it does, Dus stops and asks you on a card whether to raise it; you never edit a settings file. See Budgets.