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Every app and website on Base44 starts with your first prompt. Go to Base44 and describe what you want to build in your own words. There are a few ways to begin, depending on what you already have.
When you begin, you are asked to sign up so your work is saved and you can return to your project anytime.

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Using a prompt

Writing what you want in plain language is the simplest way to start. Share as much detail as you like, and refine the design, copy, and structure later. Describe your idea in your own words. For example, “a simple to-do list,” “a client portal where users can log in,” or “a clean one-page site for my photography business with a gallery and a contact form.” This first prompt gets things started, and you can add features or make changes at any time.
The Base44 home with a typed prompt describing a task management tool for an events team, and the plus menu open on Attach files, Connectors, Start from URL, Migrate from another platform and Import from Figma

Typing your prompt in Base44 to start building

If your prompt leaves something important open, such as what your app does or who it’s for, the AI asks about it in the chat before it builds your app. It asks 1 question at a time, and after each answer it checks whether anything important is still open. Pick an answer, or more than one when the options can go together, write your own, or click Skip question, then click Send. If you skip or tell it to just build, it builds with its best guess. For details only you know, such as your business name, choose Use a placeholder and change it later. These questions appear when you start a new web app, and not in plan mode.
Getting started with your prompt:
  • Dictate instead of typing: Click the Speech to text icon in the prompt box to speak your prompt.
  • Get ideas: Browse the Prompt library for ready-made prompts you can copy and adapt, then use the Prompt guide to shape your own.

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Using plan mode

Use plan mode when you want help shaping your app or website before you start building. It turns a short conversation into a structured plan you can adjust before Base44 builds anything.
The Plan progress panel is rolling out gradually and may not be available on your account yet.
Plan mode helps you:
  • Get a higher-quality first build by aligning it with your intent
  • Reduce back-and-forth later by adding key details up front
  • Think through your idea without needing to know what to specify in advance
  • Capture more complete requirements, including flows, roles, and constraints
  • Move faster from idea to execution while staying in a focused flow
In the prompt box, open the Mode dropdown (it shows Build by default), choose Plan, then send your prompt. Base44 opens the plan screen, and the conversation starts there. What follows is a conversation rather than a form. The AI reacts to what you say, suggests things you have not thought of, and asks about what is genuinely missing. Most of its questions come in its own words, so you can answer partly, skip one, or take it somewhere else. Some arrive as a card of options to pick from when the answer is a concrete choice. You do not have to wait to be asked: keep typing while a question is on screen and the AI takes your message into account alongside your answers. Beside the conversation, Plan progress fills in as you talk. It tracks 4 sections, and each one gets a checkmark once there is enough to write it:
  • Intent and goal: What the app is for.
  • Audience and roles: Who uses it, and who can do what.
  • Core flows: The things people actually do in it.
  • Design: Visual direction. This one comes last, and you can skip it without holding up the plan.
If your first prompt is already detailed enough that none of those are open questions, the AI skips straight to writing the plan.
The Base44 home prompt with the mode menu open on Plan, below Build

Switching to plan mode

The design question is the last one you are asked, and it works differently: instead of describing a style, you get 4 working previews of your app’s main screen to choose between. Expand one to see it full size, and if it is close but not right, describe what to change and Base44 rebuilds that preview. You can refine each option up to 3 times, regenerate the whole set, or skip the question and settle the look later. You can also add files to the plan. Under Files in the plan panel, attach images, documents, or references you want Base44 to work from. Base44 writes the plan when those sections are covered. Review it before you build, and if something is missing or wrong, keep typing in the same conversation to change it.
Answering questions in plan mode to shape your plan

Shaping the plan before you build

When you are ready, click Start Building. Your final plan is sent into the AI chat in the app editor, so you can always scroll back to it later. Base44 opens the app editor and starts building from your plan.
Important:
  • Plan mode costs only a fraction of a credit per message. Once you click Start Building, your first build uses about 1 credit, and further changes cost credits based on the work involved and the model you use.
  • You can keep editing in the app editor after the build using prompts and manual changes. Learn more about getting to know the app editor.
  • A plan conversation holds up to 50 messages. If you reach that, click Start Building to carry on in the app editor.
  • To use plan mode again, start a new build from the home screen and choose Plan in the prompt box’s Mode dropdown.
To start a new build using plan mode:
  1. Go to Base44.
  2. Enter your first prompt, then click the dropdown arrow next to Build in the prompt box and choose Plan.
  3. Answer the questions and add more details as needed.
  4. Click Start Building on the plan when you are ready.

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Starting from an existing URL

Use Start from URL to begin from a website you already own. Base44 recreates the visible front end, including the page structure, key content sections, visual hierarchy, and familiar UI patterns such as hero sections, cards, and lists. This gives you a recognizable starting point in the app editor to refine with AI instead of rebuilding from scratch. You can choose how Base44 uses the site:
  • Content & Design: Recreates the site’s content and layout to build a similar site.
  • Design only: Uses the site’s visual style to create a new site with the same look and feel.
If you are moving a whole existing site or project onto Base44, see Migrating a project to Base44.
The prompt box plus menu with Start from URL highlighted, above Migrate from another platform

Starting from an existing URL

Starting from a URL helps you:
  • Recreate sites you own without redesigning from scratch
  • Preserve your brand, layout, and visual hierarchy
  • Start migrations with a solid page structure instead of guesswork
  • Create high-fidelity prototypes that look and feel real
For example, you can recreate a personal website, upgrade a small-business site into a smarter app with entities like Orders and Customers, turn a landing page into a product with authentication and dashboards, or convert a public concept page into an internal tool. After the build finishes, refine it with prompts to adjust the structure, connect entities and APIs, and add flows and logic.
Important:
  • This feature is available on all plans, including the Free plan.
  • Starting from a URL uses credits during generation.
  • You must be the rightful owner of the website you start from, or have full rights to its content, design, and images. Do not use third-party or copyrighted sites without permission.
  • Starting from a URL does not copy private backend code, hidden data, or third-party integrations, so you still need to set up those parts manually.
To start from an existing URL:
  1. Go to Base44.
  2. Click the + icon in the prompt box.
  3. Click Start from URL.
  4. Paste the URL of the website you want to use. Make sure you have the rights to use its content.
  5. Select Content & Design or Design only, depending on what you want to reuse.
    The Start from URL dialog with Content & Design selected beside Design only

    Choosing content and design, or just the design, from a URL

  6. Click Add.

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Starting from a Figma design

Use Import from Figma to turn an existing Figma design into a working app or website. Base44 recreates the layout, structure, and visual style from your frame, so you continue from a familiar starting point instead of rebuilding from scratch.
The plus menu on the Base44 home prompt with Import from Figma outlined

Importing a design from Figma in your first prompt

For steps, requirements, and guidelines, see Importing from Figma.
You can also add a page from Figma later on, from inside the app editor, not just at your first prompt.

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Attaching files

Attach files to your first prompt so Base44 can build from your own content, data, or reference material instead of starting from a blank page. You can attach images, PDFs, documents, and spreadsheets, among other file types. Base44 uses what you attach as context for your build:
  • Images and PDFs become visual reference, so Base44 can match a design, a screenshot, or a document.
  • Spreadsheets and CSV files are read for their columns and sample data, so Base44 can build around your data.
  • Word documents, text, and Markdown files are read to inform your content and structure.
Click the + menu in the prompt box, choose Attach files, then upload from your computer or from Google Drive. The first time you use Google Drive, you are asked to connect your Google account.
The plus menu on the Base44 home with Attach files outlined and its submenu open on Upload from computer and Upload from Google Drive

Attaching files to your first prompt

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Connecting your tools

You can connect your app or website to tools you already use, like Google Workspace, Slack, and GitHub, so Base44 builds with your data and services in mind from your very first prompt. For example, connect Google Calendar so your app can read and create events, or Slack so it can post updates to your team. Click the + menu in the prompt box, choose Connectors, select the tools you want, then send your prompt. Learn more in Connectors overview.
The plus menu on the Base44 home with Connectors outlined, between Attach files above and Start from URL below

Adding connectors to your first prompt

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Troubleshooting

If your first build isn’t going the way you expected, find your situation below.
A detailed first prompt can take 10 to 15 minutes to build, so give it some time first. If the chat is still working after 10 minutes, it shows a message that it might be stuck.Your app is often partly created even when the chat stops making progress. Make a copy of it from the app dashboard and open the copy. Learn how in creating a copy of your app.If the copy doesn’t help, copy your first prompt, create a new app, and paste the same prompt into the AI chat.To avoid this, break a long or complex first prompt into smaller prompts and send them one after another.
If your app still doesn’t build, contact Customer Care and include your first prompt.

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FAQs

Click a question below to learn more.
Yes. Your first prompt is only the starting point. Once you are inside the app editor, you can keep building and change everything using the AI chat or manual edits. Learn how to work with the AI chat.
Yes, on a Builder plan or higher. Click the Tools icon in the prompt box to choose which AI model powers your build. Learn more about the AI chat and its controls.