Grok School
First ship
M02 · 10 min

Write a ship brief, not a vibe

Vague prompts create vague apps. A short brief is the highest-leverage skill in Grok Build.

Grok Build (web) turns plain language into working apps with live preview and publish. The model fills gaps aggressively. If you omit constraints, you get generic “AI slop”: purple gradients, emoji chrome, half-features.

Ship brief template

Copy-ready brief

Build a single-purpose web app:

Product: [one sentence]
User: [who]
Primary job: [one action that creates value]
Must have:
- [screen / flow 1]
- [local save or share if needed]
Must NOT:
- login, multiplayer, payment
- purple gradients, emoji as icons, placeholder lorem

UI: editorial dark, mobile-first, real copy
Stack: modern React if needed — keep it simple
Definition of done:
- works on phone width ~390px
- primary action succeeds without console errors
- empty and success states exist

Ship name: [short name]
  • One primary action beats five menus.
  • “Must NOT” is as important as “must have”.
  • Definition of done lets you reject the first draft cleanly.
  • Name the product — agents design better with a noun.

Exercise

Write your brief

Fill the template for a real app you want this week. Keep must-have ≤ 3 bullets.

  • One-sentence product
  • User + primary job
  • ≤3 must-haves + clear must-NOTs
  • Definition of done with mobile check
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