Claude Code: Build. Ship. Repeat. #1. I Shipped the Thumbnail Generator
One prompt. 4 sub-projects. A live app at makethumbs. Every step, every error, every decision. Even the features I've added after the build.
2 weeks ago, I promised you a new series. Claude Code: Build. Ship. Repeat.
I was excited. I was also scared.
What if you don’t care? What if nobody reads it? What if I build 7 apps and the series dies at #2?
I’ll take that bet.
Because here’s what I believe.
If AI is as powerful as everyone says it is, as I said, it should be able to help one person build a real product.
A product that people pay for.
If it can’t do that, then what are we all doing here?
Then something happened I didn’t expect.
After the manifesto post, professionals reached out.
They wanted to contribute to this series.
So here’s how this works.
I’ll write two posts per month.
The first post, this one, is the build.
How I made it. Every prompt, every decision, every error.
The second post comes at the end of the month. May 31, 2026.
That’s the “After Ship” post.
How I promoted the app. What the numbers say. What real users think. And whether I keep it or kill it.
The professionals who reached out?
They’re joining that second post. Real feedback from real people on a real product.
If you want to contribute, reach out to me via DM, especially marketing specialist.
What We’re Building
This is makethumbs.com.
Here how the entire website is working.
And here is one of the use case.
This is live.
Here is the link.
How I Picked the First App
I have too many ideas. I discuss all of them with my wife, Yevheniya.
She has the best intuition of anyone I’ve met.
That’s why I listen to her.
On one of our daily walks, she reminded me that two potential clients had already asked me to build this.
A thumbnail generator. People wanted it before I even started.
Earlier this week, I built a prototype with Codex and ChatGPT Image 2.0. 29 minutes. 3 errors. One working app.
My original plan was a different app for the series.
But Yevheniya saw the prototype and said this is the one.
I pushed back. When it comes to business decisions, I can be stubborn.
But she was right. She’s usually right.
So I started working on it.
What’s next?
Now I know what you want.
The one prompt that builds the whole thing.
I’ll give it to you.
But first, you need to understand what happens before and after that prompt. Because building the app is 30% of the work. Making it live, making people find it, making them pay, that’s the other 70%.
Let me show you how I planned this.