AI Material Estimator for Home Renovations

AI Prompts to Build This

Copy these build prompts into Claude, Cursor, or your AI coding tool. Create a free account to unlock the full research behind them.

1. 1. Project Setup

   Build the weekend MVP of "EstiMate": upload a few room photos and get a waste-adjusted shopping list for tile, paint, concrete or drywall.
   
   Stack: Next.js (App Router), TypeScript, Tailwind, Supabase (Postgres, Row Level Security, Storage, Auth with email magic link), Claude (Anthropic API) with image input for the room reading. Deploy on Vercel.
   
   Tables (Row Level Security on, each user reads only rows tied to their own projects):
   - projects(id, user_id, name, project_type, skill_level, status)
   - rooms(id, project_id, name, photo_urls, estimated_area_sqft)
   - materials(id, room_id, material_type, unit, estimated_quantity, waste_factor, estimated_cost_cents)
   - actuals(id, material_id, actual_quantity, logged_at)
   - waste_factors(id, material_type, skill_level, project_type, factor)
   
   Screens: /login, /new (photos and inputs), /project/[id] (the list and the actuals form).
   Env vars (names only): NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL, NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY, SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY (server only), ANTHROPIC_API_KEY.
   
   Do not build: billing or plans, a separate computer-vision service, the daily job that adjusts shared waste factors, contractor accounts, store pricing lookups (use a flat cost per unit you set).
   Done when: npm run dev starts, you can sign in, and the five tables exist with Row Level Security on and a few conservative waste_factors rows seeded.

2. 2. Core Feature

   Build the one feature that proves EstiMate: photos in, an exact shopping list out.
   1. POST /api/estimate takes one or more room photos plus room type, rough length and width if known, the material, and the user's skill level.
   2. Send the photos to Claude with a strict JSON schema: estimated_area_sqft (number), obstacles (string array), confidence (number) and notes (string).
   3. Look up the waste factor by material_type, skill_level and project_type in waste_factors. With no match, use a conservative default.
   4. Return a shopping list with material, unit, base_quantity, waste_adjusted_quantity and estimated_cost_cents for each line, and save it to materials.
   5. If confidence is below a threshold, flag the estimate for manual quantity confirmation instead of accepting it.
   6. When a project is marked complete, ask what was actually bought and used for each line and save it to actuals.
   Empty state: with no projects, show the new-project form and a one-line photo tip.
   Done when: three photos of a room produce a list with a waste-adjusted quantity per line, a blurry photo gets flagged for confirmation, and logging actuals saves them.

3. 3. Landing Page

   Build a one-page landing site for EstiMate, a material estimator for home renovations.
   Hero: "Stop guessing how much material you need." Sub: "Upload a few photos, get an exact shopping list for tile, paint, concrete and drywall, with waste already accounted for." One button: Scan your first room free, which joins the waitlist.
   Sections: a before and after of a room scan turning into a shopping list, the problem (renovators overbuy because static calculators ignore skill level and cut waste), how it works in four steps (scan, set parameters, get the list, log actuals), and an FAQ on estimate accuracy, photo privacy and supported project types.
   Waitlist: store the email in a waitlist table in Supabase. No other service.
   Style: a dark neutral background, one emerald accent, generous whitespace.
   Done when: the page renders on a phone and a submitted email appears in the waitlist table.

4. 4. Branding Package

   Use a design or image tool for this one. A coding agent cannot draw a logo.
   Brand for EstiMate: a wordmark and an icon that suggest a tape measure over a room outline.
   Colors: a dark neutral, off-white and one emerald accent. Type: one sturdy sans for the interface and tabular figures for quantities.
   Deliverables: wordmark, icon, four material icons (tile, paint, concrete, drywall), and one launch graphic.
   Done when: each deliverable is saved in one folder and the four material icons are distinct at 24 px.