Learn how to replace line-by-line coding with AI-powered conversations. This guide shows you how to effectively communicate your vision and leverage Replit’s AI tools to bring your ideas to life.

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What you’ll learn

AI Tool Mastery

Use Agent and Assistant effectively for different development tasks

Clear Communication

Learn the art of describing your vision to AI tools

Best Practices

Discover how to provide context and specifications effectively

Rapid Development

Build and publish a working app in just 15 minutes
You’ll need a Replit account and Core subscription to access Agent.

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Start with Agent

1

Understand the library

We’ll use MarkItDown, Microsoft’s file conversion library. Since it’s new, provide Agent with context about its capabilities:
MarkItDown is a utility for converting various files to Markdown (e.g., for indexing, text analysis, etc). It supports:
PDF
PowerPoint
Word
Excel
Images (EXIF metadata and OCR)
Audio (EXIF metadata and speech transcription)
HTML
Text-based formats (CSV, JSON, XML)
ZIP files (iterates over contents)
https://github.com/microsoft/markitdown
Hover over URLs and select “copy content” to give Agent additional context.
2

Create your prompt

Craft a clear prompt explaining your vision:
I’d like to build a simple app that converts office files to markdown. It should have a drag and drop interface and be both desktop and mobile friendly.
3

Review the plan

Agent will create a development plan outlining:
  • Required files
  • Code structure
  • Implementation steps
Reviewing and approving Agent's initial plan

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Develop iteratively

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Using Agent for major changes

Agent excels at handling structural changes and core functionality. When you encounter issues:
  1. Copy error messages directly into the chat
  2. Be descriptive about what’s not working
  3. Provide clear requirements for new features
Fixing JSON parse error by sharing with Agent
Example prompts for adding features: 
Make the app more responsive and mobile friendly, the copy and download buttons are cut off on narrow screens

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Refining with Assistant

Switch to Assistant for detailed improvements and UI refinements. Use the @ symbol to reference specific files: 
Remove ‘Powered by MarkItDown Library’ and add a description to the top of the app
Add a footer with links to social profiles
Use web development terms like “responsive,” “mobile-friendly,” and “grid interface” to communicate effectively.

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Publish your app

1

Start publishing

Select Publish or search for “Deployments” in the command bar.
2

Configure resources

For auto-scale published apps, configure:
  • Basic resources (1 CPU, 1GB RAM per instance)
  • Maximum machines (start with 6)
  • Environment variables
  • Run commands
3

Launch

  1. Name your app
  2. Select Publish
  3. Wait 1-5 minutes for it to go live
  4. Access your app via the provided URL

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Best practices

Use Agent for

  • Initial setup
  • Core functionality
  • Major structural changes
  • Error resolution

Use Assistant for

  • UI refinements
  • Small feature additions
  • Code optimization
  • Documentation
Success with AI tools depends more on clear communication than coding expertise. Focus on describing your vision effectively using web development terminology.

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Resources

Template

Fork the template

Demo

Try the live demo

Tutorial

Watch the video above
Published file converter app interface