Mastery Module 9 · Let the LLM Set Things Up

Project Templates

Curated starter prompts for common project types

Copy, paste, customize

Below are battle-tested prompts for common project types. Copy the one closest to what you want, customize the details, and paste it into your CLI tool. Each prompt produces a complete, working project.

Personal / Portfolio

Personal Portfolio Website

Create a personal portfolio website with these specifications:
Structure:
- Homepage with hero (name, title, one-liner), about section,
featured projects (3 cards), skills list, and contact info
- Individual project detail pages
- Responsive design (looks great on mobile and desktop)
Tech: Astro with Tailwind CSS
Theme: Dark background (#09090b), light text, purple accent color
Content: Use placeholder content with clear labels so I can
easily find and replace with my own information.

Personal Blog

Create a blog with these specifications:
Structure:
- Homepage showing recent posts as cards with title, date, excerpt
- Individual post pages with good reading typography
- Tag system: posts can have multiple tags, tag pages show filtered posts
- About page
Tech: Astro with Markdown content collection
Theme: Dark, focused on readability. Body text at least 18px.
Content: Include 3 sample posts with realistic content.

Business / Professional

Landing Page

Create a product landing page with:
Sections:
- Hero with headline, subheadline, and two CTA buttons
- Features grid (6 features with icons, title, description)
- Social proof / testimonials (3 quotes)
- Pricing (3 tiers: Free, Pro, Enterprise)
- FAQ accordion (5 questions)
- Footer with links and newsletter signup
Tech: Single HTML file with Tailwind via CDN
Theme: Dark, professional. Modern SaaS aesthetic.
All content should be placeholder but realistic-looking.

Dashboard

Create an admin dashboard with:
Layout:
- Sidebar navigation (collapsible on mobile)
- Top bar with search and user menu
- Main content area
Pages:
- Overview: 4 stat cards, a line chart, and a recent activity list
- Users: Table with search, sort, and pagination
- Settings: Form with account and notification preferences
Tech: React with Vite and Tailwind CSS
Theme: Dark, clean, minimal
Use mock data that looks realistic.

Tools / Utilities

Todo / Task Manager

Create a task management app with:
Features:
- Add tasks with title and optional due date
- Mark tasks as complete (checkbox)
- Delete tasks
- Filter: All / Active / Completed
- Tasks persist in localStorage
- Color-coded urgency (overdue = red, due today = amber, upcoming = green)
Tech: React with Vite
Theme: Dark, minimal, clean
Single page application.

Calculator / Converter

Create a unit converter web app with:
Features:
- Categories: Length, Weight, Temperature, Volume
- Dropdown selectors for from/to units
- Real-time conversion as you type
- Swap button to reverse from/to
- History of recent conversions
Tech: Single HTML file with vanilla JavaScript
Theme: Dark, centered layout, large input text
Mobile-friendly.

Research / Academic

Data Visualization Page

Create a data visualization page with:
Features:
- File upload for CSV data
- Auto-detect columns and data types
- Generate bar chart, line chart, or scatter plot
- Toggle between chart types
- Download chart as PNG
- Basic statistics (mean, median, min, max per column)
Tech: React, Vite, Chart.js
Theme: Dark, focused on the visualizations
Include a sample CSV for demonstration.

Note-Taking App

Create a note-taking application with:
Features:
- Markdown editor with live preview (side by side)
- List of notes in a sidebar
- Create, edit, delete notes
- Search/filter notes by content
- All data saved to localStorage
- Export notes as Markdown files
Tech: React, Vite, a Markdown parser library
Theme: Dark, distraction-free writing focus
💡How to customize these prompts

These are starting points. Customize by:

  1. Changing the theme — swap “dark” for “light” or specify exact colors
  2. Adding features — append “Also add: …” to any prompt
  3. Changing the tech — swap “React” for “Vue” or “Svelte”
  4. Adding constraints — “Must work offline” or “Must be a single HTML file”

The prompt formula

Every good scaffolding prompt follows the same pattern:

Create [type of project] with:
Structure:
- [list the pages/sections/views]
Features:
- [list specific functionality]
Tech: [framework, libraries]
Theme: [visual description]
[Any additional constraints or preferences]

Fill in the blanks, paste into your CLI tool, and you’ll have a working project in minutes.

Don't worry about being too specific

More detail = better results. You can’t over-specify. If you know you want rounded corners with 12px radius and the exact hex code for your background, include it. The AI is great at following precise instructions and ignoring irrelevant ones.