ShipPad: AI-Native Project Starters for Non-Technical Users
What if you could ship a production-ready app without writing code yourself? ShipPad gives AI assistants everything they need to build for you.
I watched my friend describe an app idea to Claude Code. Ten minutes later, he had a working prototype. Two hours after that, it was live on Vercel.
He’s not a developer. He’s a yoga instructor.
This shouldn’t have worked. But it did — because the project came pre-configured with everything Claude needed to build correctly: security rules, testing patterns, deployment scripts, and clear boundaries on what not to break.
That’s what ShipPad does. It’s not a low-code tool. It’s not a template. It’s an operating system for AI-assisted development.
The Problem with “Just Use AI”
Here’s what usually happens when non-technical users try to build with AI:
Claude writes code. It looks impressive. You deploy it. Then:
- Someone finds an SQL injection vulnerability
- Your API keys end up in the git history
- The app crashes on mobile because animations are too heavy
- Tests? What tests?
AI assistants are powerful, but they need guardrails. Without them, you’re building on sand.
What ShipPad Actually Contains
ShipPad is a folder structure. But what’s inside matters.
Rules that prevent disasters:
- Security rules based on OWASP Top 10:2025
- Git workflow rules (no force-pushing to main, meaningful commits)
- Testing rules (prove it works before claiming “done”)
- Mobile-first design rules
Skills that teach the AI:
- How to deploy to Vercel without breaking things
- How to write tests for the code it generates
- How to audit its own code for security issues
- How to generate legal documents (Terms of Use, Privacy Policy)
Templates that work:
- Next.js 15 with TypeScript (strict mode)
- Telegram bot with grammY
- Landing page with conversion optimization
A virtual team:
- Frontend Engineer (UI, mobile optimization)
- Quality Engineer (code review, testing)
- Deployment Engineer (CI/CD, containers)
- Marketing Engineer (copy, SEO)
Each “agent” has clear boundaries. The frontend engineer won’t touch database code. The deployment engineer won’t modify business logic. This prevents the chaos that happens when AI just does whatever it wants.
How It Works in Practice
You open Claude Code in a ShipPad project. You describe what you want:
“Build a waitlist page for my meditation app. Collect emails, store them in Supabase, and send a confirmation email.”
Claude reads the AGENTS.md file and knows:
- Use Next.js App Router (it’s already set up)
- Use Supabase for the database (connection is configured)
- Follow the security rules (validate inputs, no hardcoded keys)
- Run the testing skill before saying “done”
The result isn’t just working code. It’s code that follows patterns a senior developer would recognize. Because the patterns are baked into the project from the start.
The Security Problem Nobody Talks About
Most AI-generated code has security holes.
Not because the AI is malicious. Because it optimizes for what you asked, not what you forgot to ask. You said “build a login form.” You didn’t say “and make it resistant to brute force attacks.”
ShipPad’s security-review skill runs an OWASP Top 10:2025 checklist:
- Broken access control? Check.
- Cryptographic failures? Check.
- Injection vulnerabilities? Check.
- Insecure design patterns? Check.
The AI knows to look for these issues because the skill tells it exactly what to look for. And it knows the priority: vulnerabilities with EPSS scores above 0.5 get flagged as critical.
Testing Without the Pain
“Write tests” is the request developers hate most. But untested code is a liability.
ShipPad includes a testing skill that knows:
- Unit tests with Vitest for business logic
- E2E tests with Playwright for user flows
- When to mock external services
- How to test React components properly
The AI writes tests alongside the code. Not as an afterthought. Not as a chore. As a natural part of the workflow.
Coverage targets are clear: 70% minimum, 100% for critical paths like payments and authentication.
Multi-Platform Support
Claude Code isn’t the only AI coding assistant. Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI — they all exist. And they all have different configuration formats.
ShipPad syncs skills to all of them:
| Platform | Where skills live |
|---|---|
| Claude Code | .claude/skills/ |
| Codex CLI | .codex/skills/ |
| Gemini CLI | .gemini/commands/ |
| Cursor IDE | .cursor/rules/ |
One command syncs everything: npx tsx scripts/sync-platforms.ts
Your AI assistant works the same way regardless of which tool you prefer.
Design Systems Without Designers
ShipPad includes two design themes out of the box:
Brutalist (Apps/AnyVisa style):
- Bold, hard edges
- Hard shadows with no blur
- Lime accent (#E3FF74) on dark backgrounds only
- Unbounded and Space Grotesk typography
Notion-like (Shipped style):
- Clean, minimal
- Soft shadows
- Subtle borders
- Inter and Funnel Display typography
Both are implemented as CSS custom properties. The AI knows which theme is active and applies it consistently.
EO-OS: Making Your Site AI-Discoverable
Here’s something most people don’t think about: AI assistants like ChatGPT and Perplexity crawl websites. They answer questions about your product based on what they find.
ShipPad includes EO-OS (Entity Optimization OS) generators:
llms.txt— Structured information for AI crawlersrobots.txt— Explicitly allows AI bots (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot)- JSON-LD schemas for Organization, WebPage, Product
When someone asks Perplexity “What does [your product] do?”, you want a good answer. EO-OS makes that happen.
Legal Documents in Minutes
Every SaaS needs Terms of Use and a Privacy Policy. Lawyers charge thousands. Templates are generic.
ShipPad’s legal-generator skill creates compliant documents:
- GDPR compliance (EU)
- CCPA compliance (California)
- LGPD compliance (Brazil)
- Standard clauses for SaaS businesses
Variables like {{COMPANY_NAME}}, {{PRODUCT_NAME}}, and {{CONTACT_EMAIL}} get replaced automatically. You review, adjust for your specific case, and publish.
These aren’t a substitute for legal counsel on complex matters. But for an MVP? They’re better than nothing, and better than most templates.
Who This Is For
ShipPad works best for:
Founders with ideas, not code: You know what you want to build. You can describe it clearly. You just can’t write the code yourself.
Developers who want guardrails: You can code, but you want AI assistance without the chaos. Pre-configured rules mean you spend less time fixing AI mistakes.
Agencies shipping fast: Client projects need to go out quickly but not break. ShipPad’s structure scales across projects.
Educators teaching vibe coding: Students learn with real production patterns from day one. Not toy examples that fall apart in the real world.
Getting Started
ShipPad is a folder you clone. The rest is conversation.
- Clone the ShipPad repository
- Open it in Claude Code (or your preferred AI assistant)
- Describe what you want to build
- Let the AI work within the guardrails
The AI reads AGENTS.md and knows the rules. It reads the skills and knows the workflows. It reads the templates and knows the patterns.
You provide direction. It provides implementation.
What This Changes
The gap between “idea” and “shipped product” is shrinking.
Not because AI writes perfect code. It doesn’t. But because we can encode years of hard-won knowledge into configuration files that AI assistants actually follow.
Security best practices. Testing discipline. Deployment workflows. Design consistency.
These used to require experience.
Now they require the right project structure. ShipPad is that structure.
ShipPad is currently in private beta. Follow @igindin for updates.