Idea to App

The Idea Chat

Dream big, capture everything.

Open any AI chat — free web version works. Describe your idea, who it's for, what it does. This produces your first PRD. It's a rough draft. That's fine.

Infrastructure

Get hello world running before you build anything.

Set up your project, get a blank screen loading, database connected. Don't build features on top of assumptions — prove the foundation works first.

Rapid UX Prototyping

The prototype is the product. Mock broadly, build narrowly.

Bring your PRD to Claude Code or Codex. Wireframes, screen flows, component sketches. This is where reality shatters your initial idea. That's the point.

PRD Revision

Agents-first architecture. V1 scope locked.

Your first PRD was a guess. UX prototyping showed you what actually needs to exist. Rewrite it with real screens, real flows, real data. This version is the source of truth.

Spec / Build Order

Define the flows and their sequence.

Break the build into phases. Each phase ends at a gate where you check in. Spec the work to the gate using TKA flow specs — the Full Meal Deal (FMD) is the standard template.

North Star Alignment

The most important part of the process.

4 to 8 assertions that must be true when the phase is done. Every review, every QA check, every Product Owner verification is measured against these. Get them right.

Realignment

Birds-eye view. Are we ready?

Have requirements changed since you wrote the spec? Catch it now for free — catching it mid-build costs tokens and remediation cycles.

Handoff to Build

From planning to autonomous execution.

Import your spec into TKA. From here, agents take over. You sleep, work, live your life. The system handles the rest.

Preflight Gut Check

"Will this flow as-is likely succeed?" One check before any code is written. Can fix stale paths and missing context. Can't change scope.

Agent Execution

Cold sessions execute your dev steps. No conversation history, no drift. State lives in the database, not LLM memory. Between steps: zero token cost.

Parallel Peer Review

Two independent reviewers in parallel. One checks correctness — did you build it right? One checks intent — did you build the right thing? They flag. They never fix.

Remediation & Consolidation

Triage all findings. Clean? Pass through. Issues? Create targeted fix steps and a QA Gate.

QA Gate

Verify fixes landed. Three rounds max. Three failures means a structural problem — blocks for you. No infinite loops.

Product Owner Check

AI roleplaying as a business owner verifies every North Star assertion. One fix attempt, one re-check. Still failing? Blocks for you.

Ship It

Peer Review, QA, Product Owner — all green. That was one phase. Repeat for the next gate until the whole app is done.