Build an app that saves data

3 minute read · Projects & Git

Turn Small Stories into an app whose articles are stored and read back. This walkthrough adds persistence to the first-app guide, using Vortex’s supported Laravel + React starter.

• Ask for a small complete flow
• Follow the setup
• Prove that the data is real
• Ask for a complete, testable slice
• Check persistence through three surfaces
• Prepare the next iteration

Ask for a small complete flow#

Start in a new project location, or tell the agent you are continuing an existing project. For a new build, try:

Build Small Stories with the Laravel + React starter. Store three sample articles in a local database, expose them through the app’s API and show the saved articles in the page. Guide me through setup. Keep everything local.

Let the agent inspect the available dependencies and prepare the project. A suitable existing database can be reused; SQLite is also a project database option. You do not need to ask for another database service just because the example uses Laravel.

Follow the setup#

The sequence is to create the project, scaffold it, inspect its configuration, prepare dependencies and start the application. Review any request to install a dependency or change files. If a step fails, use its output to continue the same setup rather than overwriting an existing project.

Prove that the data is real#

Open Preview and read all three articles. Ask the agent to verify the database rows and the API response too. If you add an editor, change a title, save it, reload and check the saved value. A hardcoded page can look correct while saving nothing.

Keep credentials in saved connections and the project’s authorized environment file. Never paste passwords into a prompt to make setup easier.

Next: your first app, open its database, review before publishing.

Ask for a complete, testable slice#

Use a request that names the stored data and the action you want to try:

Build Small Stories with the Laravel + React starter. Store articles with a title, introduction and body. Add three fictional examples. Show the articles through the app's API and let me create one from a form. Keep everything local and ask before preparing a missing service.

The agent should create/select the project, scaffold it, inspect dependencies, prepare the environment and start it. Let it inspect existing local services before installing anything. SQLite can be enough for a small local app; a project that already uses PostgreSQL or MySQL should use its intended configuration. The database your app uses is separate from Vortex's own encrypted conversation storage.

Check persistence through three surfaces#

1. In Preview, read the three sample articles and open their details.
2. Create a fourth fictional article from the app form. Reload and verify that it remains.
3. In API Client, send the app's actual article-list request and inspect the fourth record.
4. In Database, read the corresponding row using the saved local connection.
5. Change its title through the app, reload and check the updated response and row.

A page with hardcoded sample cards is a useful layout prototype but does not pass this persistence check. If the UI saves only until reload, ask the agent to trace the form submission, API validation and database write. Keep the existing project rather than scaffolding another copy.

Prepare the next iteration#

Ask for field validation, an empty list and a clear save error before adding more features. Review the files and run the project's configured checks. Once those pass, save a manual Git commit so the working version is easy to identify. Publishing the project, pushing Git or running migrations against a remote environment requires a separate deliberate instruction; this walkthrough authorizes local example data only.