🍳 Curious Kitchen 🤖

Yes! The workshop is specifically designed to be accessible to beginners. You'll be working with an AI agent (Cursor) that helps write the code, so you focus on learning concepts and making decisions about what to build. The exercises are scaffolded with clear instructions, and there's built-in support documentation.

Many participants with no coding background successfully build and deploy their apps. 🎉

Not at all. While the app itself is approachable, the real value for experienced developers is learning the mental models for effective AI-assisted development. You'll discover when to let the agent lead, when to intervene, how to structure prompts effectively, and how to verify AI-generated code.

These are new skills that will transform how you work. Plus, you'll build something functional in 6 hours that would normally take days. ⚡

Getting stuck is part of learning! We've built in several support mechanisms:

• • Built-in documentation that the AI agent can reference
• • Troubleshooting guides for common issues
• • Instructor support throughout the day
• • Peer support from other participants
• • Structured verification steps to catch issues early

The workshop is designed so you can't get too stuck—the AI agent and support materials will help you move forward.

For this workshop, everyone builds the recipe app to ensure we can provide structured support and everyone can help each other. However, the skills and patterns you learn are transferable—after the workshop, you can absolutely use the same starter kit and approaches to build whatever you want.

The Slack community is a great place to share your future projects! 💡

Yes! Your app will be deployed to Cloudflare and remain live. The free tiers of Airtable and Gemini API will support your personal use. You'll own all the code, and you can continue developing it.

The only ongoing costs would be if you exceed free tier limits (unlikely for personal use) or choose to upgrade services later.

The workshop is structured so everyone completes the core functionality (phases 1-4). Phase 5 (extensions and polish) is flexible based on your pace. You'll leave with a working app regardless.

Plus, you'll have all the materials and the Slack community to continue building afterward. Many participants continue enhancing their apps for weeks after the workshop! 🚀

Any laptop less than 5 years old should work fine:

• • Mac: macOS 10.14 or later
• • Windows: Windows 10 or later
• • Linux: Any modern distribution
• • Requirements: At least 8GB RAM, modern web browser, ability to install applications
• • Internet: You'll need stable internet (provided at the venue)

Yes, we'll send detailed setup instructions one week before. You'll need to:

• • Install Cursor (code editor)
• • Create free accounts (GitHub, Airtable, Google/Gemini, Cloudflare)
• • Verify Node.js is installed (instructions provided)
• • Clone the starter repository

We estimate setup takes 30-45 minutes. We'll also have a setup help session available before the workshop day. ☕

No problem! All the tools we use work cross-platform. The starter kit is tested on Mac, Windows, and Linux. The instructions might show Mac shortcuts, but Windows equivalents will be provided.

All services we use have free tiers that are more than sufficient for the workshop and personal use:

• • Airtable: Free plan (1,200 records per base)
• • Gemini API: Free tier (generous for development)
• • Cloudflare: Free tier (perfect for personal projects)
• • GitHub: Free for public/private repositories

You won't need to enter payment details for the workshop. 🎉

For the workshop day, we ask everyone to use the standard stack so we can provide effective support. After the workshop, you're welcome to swap out components—the Slack community is a great place to discuss alternatives and get help with migrations.

Your app will use Google's Gemini AI for:

• 📸 Vision-based recipe import: Take a photo of a cookbook page, and AI extracts the recipe name, ingredients, measurements, and method
• 🗂️ Smart categorisation: AI organises ingredients into shopping list categories
• 🧠 Intelligent parsing: Converting unstructured text into structured data
• 💬 Natural language understanding: (If time permits) asking questions about recipes using voice

These features feel like magic but are built with remarkably little code thanks to AI APIs. ✨

Absolutely! The structured chapters guide you through core functionality, but you make many decisions:

• • How you structure your data (what fields a recipe has)
• • Your app's visual design (colours, fonts, layouts)
• • Which optional features you add
• • How you organise and display information

During Phase 5, there's explicit time for customisation and adding your own ideas. 🚀

No! While everyone follows the same structure, your app will be unique because:

• • You make different schema design decisions
• • You choose different colours and styles
• • You import your own recipes
• • You might add different features based on your pace
• • The AI agent might suggest different implementation approaches

It's more like everyone following the same recipe but ending up with slightly different dishes. 🍽️

Omnivore (linked in the materials) is the inspiration for our workshop app. We're building a simplified version focused on the most impressive features:

• • Recipe import from photos
• • Smart shopping lists
• • Meal planning interface

Omnivore also has voice interaction and recipe suggestions using OpenAI's Assistant API—we'll touch on these as stretch goals if time permits. The workshop version uses Google Gemini instead of OpenAI, and Airtable for simpler data management.

You own it! The app is deployed to your Cloudflare account, the code is in your GitHub repository, and the data is in your Airtable base. You can:

• • Continue using it for your meal planning
• • Keep developing and adding features
• • Share it with friends and family
• • Use it as a portfolio piece
• • Adapt it for other purposes

Yes! You'll join our private Slack community where you can:

• • Ask questions and get help
• • Share your progress and projects
• • Learn from others' solutions
• • Get updates to workshop materials
• • Find collaborators for new projects

The instructor will be active in the community, and you'll build relationships with fellow participants. 🤝

Absolutely—this is encouraged! Common next steps participants take:

• • Add more AI features (voice interaction, recipe suggestions)
• • Build a mobile-responsive design
• • Add recipe tagging and search
• • Integrate with grocery delivery services
• • Share their app with family

The workshop materials include ideas for extensions, and the Slack community is perfect for getting feedback on your additions. 💡

The workshop gives you a foundation, but commercialising requires additional work:

• • User authentication and multi-tenancy
• • Payment processing
• • Privacy policies and legal compliance
• • Production security and scaling
• • Customer support infrastructure

However, you'll understand the core functionality deeply and can decide if it's worth investing in these additional layers. Many successful products started as personal projects like this! 🚀

We plan to run Curious Kitchen regularly based on demand. Join the mailing list to hear about future sessions. If you've attended before, there may be "alumni" advanced sessions focusing on specific topics like authentication, deployment, or advanced AI features.

Unfortunately, no. The workshop has limited capacity to ensure everyone gets support. Encourage your friend to register for the next session! Group discounts may be available—check the registration page.

The AI agent is your pair programmer, not a replacement for thinking. You'll:

• • Decide what to build
• • Guide the implementation
• • Review and understand the code
• • Debug and iterate
• • Make architectural decisions

The AI handles boilerplate and syntax, freeing you to focus on concepts and creativity. You'll learn more because you're not stuck on syntax errors. 🎯

You should understand the concepts and what the code does, but you don't need to memorise every syntax detail. It's like understanding what a recipe does without memorising the exact measurements. Over time, patterns will become familiar. The workshop focuses on comprehension over memorisation.

It will! That's part of the learning experience. You'll learn to:

• • Verify AI outputs
• • Debug issues
• • Provide better prompts
• • Iterate toward solutions

This is a crucial skill for working with AI—knowing when to trust it and when to question it. 🔍