SECTION_04

How to Describe Your App

Master the art of clear, structured app descriptions that get results.

[One Rule to Remember]

If you can't describe your app in three sentences — goal, audience, core features — you're not ready to build it yet. Spend 5 minutes writing it down first.

> The Three Essentials

1. Goal

What does this app do? What problem does it solve?

2. Audience

Who uses it? What do they need to accomplish?

3. Features

What are the 3–5 core things it must do?

> Bad vs. Good Examples

// BAD PROMPT

Make a marketplace app.

// GOOD PROMPT

Build a peer-to-peer NFT marketplace on ICP for digital artists. Core features: - Artists can mint NFTs and set a sale price - Buyers can browse by category and purchase with ICP tokens - Creators earn 10% royalty on secondary sales Data model: - NFT: id, creator, owner, price, metadata (title, description, image URL) - Transaction: nft_id, seller, buyer, price, timestamp Auth: Internet Identity Storage: Object storage for images, canister state for ownership

// BAD PROMPT

Build a to-do app. Make it nice.

// GOOD PROMPT

Build a task management app for remote teams. Core features: - Create, assign, and complete tasks with due dates - Filter tasks by assignee, status, and priority - Dashboard showing team progress summary Users: team leads and individual contributors Auth: Internet Identity (each user sees only their own tasks) Architecture: single canister is fine

> The Full Description Template

Copy this template for every build

[ICP Skills line]
[Anti-default checklist]

Build a [type] app for [target audience].

Core features:
- [Feature 1 — be specific about behavior]
- [Feature 2 — mention data involved]
- [Feature 3 — mention user interaction]

Data model:
- [Entity 1]: [fields and types]
- [Entity 2]: [fields and types]

Authentication: [Internet Identity / anonymous / none]
Storage: [canister state / object storage for files]
Architecture: [single canister / N canisters with roles]

Design: [tone, color preferences, layout style]
Mobile: [yes — fully responsive / tablet-first / desktop only]

[The 'Nice' Trap]

"Make it nice" or "modern design" tells Caffeine nothing. Instead say: "dark editorial style, large typography, cyan accent color" or "clean minimalist SaaS look, white background, blue primary". Specificity = better output.

> VOICE-TO-TEXT — SINCE NOVEMBER 2025

Since November 2025, Caffeine supports voice-to-text for prompts. You can simply describe your app out loud instead of typing — especially useful for complex prompts or when you're on the go.

TIP: Voice input works best for structured descriptions. Speak your points clearly and numbered — just like a typed prompt.

> NPM PACKAGES — 3.1 MILLION LIBRARIES

Caffeine apps have access to the entire NPM ecosystem — over 3.1 million packages. You don't need to find or install them yourself — just ask for what you want by name in your prompt.

Rich text editors

Editor.js, TipTap, Quill

Charts & graphs

Chart.js, Recharts, ApexCharts

Dates & time

Day.js, date-fns

Drag & drop

dnd-kit, react-beautiful-dnd

Animations

Framer Motion, GSAP

Tables

TanStack Table

Maps

Leaflet

Prompt example — ask by name for best results

"Build a notes app with a rich text editor using TipTap,
with bold, italic, bullet list, and heading support."

TIP: No need to know the exact library name — describe what you want ("a rich text editor", "a bar chart") and Caffeine will pick the right package. For best results, name the library when you know it.

> Built-In Access Control — Just Describe It

Every Caffeine app has a built-in 3-role system out of the box. You don't write access control code — you just describe the rules in your prompt.

Admin

Full access to all features and data

User

Logged-in member with standard access

Guest

Not logged in — sees only public content

Access control prompt example

This app has three roles:
- Admin can see all user data and manage settings.
- Users can create and edit their own content.
- Guests can only browse the public feed without logging in.

// Useful for SaaS tools, community apps, and marketplaces. You can also describe fine-grained rules ("only Admins can delete posts") and Caffeine will enforce them automatically.