Chapter 2: Bring Back Your Own Workbench — From Platform to Local
By the end of Chapter 1, you already had a version that could be previewed, presented, and used for simple chatting. It was still early-stage, but it had already proven one thing: this project was no longer just something imagined—it existed. What Chapter 2 is about is bringing that v1 prototype, still living on the platform, back to your own computer so it can become a project you can keep modifying, saving, and iterating on in the future.
For many people, the moment they hear “local development,” a string of intimidating terms immediately pops into their heads: terminal, dependencies, frameworks, directory structures, run commands, error troubleshooting. So before they even begin, they mentally take a step back. But this chapter is not about suddenly training you to become a developer. It is more like a handoff: moving a temporary result from the platform onto your own workbench. Starting with this chapter, you are no longer just “someone who can generate a page,” but someone who is beginning to own a real project that can be developed over the long term.
That is also why Chapter 2 is so important. In Chapter 3, you will adjust the style; in Chapter 4, you will add content and guidance; in Chapter 5, you will tune the digital persona; in Chapter 6, you will launch it. Every one of those actions needs a stable foundation. That foundation is the project folder on your local computer and your AI IDE workspace.
Chapter Guide
| Section | What you will accomplish |
|---|---|
| 2.1 Why bring the project back to local, and how to export it | Understand what “local” means and place the project in the right location |
| 2.2 Open it with an AI IDE and first get familiar with the most critical parts | Get the project running on your own computer and know roughly where the key files are |
| 2.3 Complete one minimal modification and learn 3 types of high-frequency prompts | Build your first local closed loop of “I changed something, and the page really changed” |
| 2.4 Chapter summary: your local workbench is now set up | Confirm that you have transitioned from a platform user to a project owner |
What exactly is this chapter solving
A platform is great for quickly pulling together the first version, because it helps you skip a large chunk of setup work and lets you see results first. But if you want to keep seriously improving it, the platform starts to fall short. Gradually, you will realize that you need a fixed place to store the project, a more stable environment to preserve your changes, and a local workspace where AI can explain things, help you locate things, and help you modify things at any time.
So the focus of this chapter is not “learn everything about local development,” but rather to first take back your sense of control. You will know where the project folder should live, how to open it with an AI IDE, why the page can run, and how to ask AI when you want to change a line of copy, a button, or a section. By this point, you do not need to become a professional developer, but for the first time you will clearly feel that this project is no longer just an output on a platform, but something you can continue to own and drive forward.
In other words, Chapter 1 solved “build it first,” while Chapter 2 solves “get it into your own hands.”
What you will gain after completing this chapter
After finishing Chapter 2, you should be able to open and run this project on your own computer, know roughly where several of the most important files are, and have completed one small but real local modification. It may not sound dramatic, but it is crucial. Because starting with this chapter, all the improvements from Chapter 3 through Chapter 6 will be built on top of this local workbench.
You do not need to memorize every command, nor do you need to understand all the code at once. You only need to complete this minimum closed loop: export it, put it in a fixed location, open it with an AI IDE, run it, change one thing, and see the result. As long as these five steps work, you have completed the most important task of Chapter 2.
Go to 2.1: Why bring the project back to local, and how to export it →