Hello, World
Piezas is a backend you don't build. You describe the app you want, an AI assistant builds it on Piezas, and you publish it to the web — the data, logins, scheduling, notifications, and hosting are already running. No servers, and no code you write by hand. Here's the whole journey — about five…
Piezas is a backend you don't build. You describe the app you want, an AI assistant builds it on Piezas, and you publish it to the web — the data, logins, scheduling, notifications, and hosting are already running. No servers, and no code you write by hand.
Here's the whole journey — about five minutes to your first live app.
Step 1: Create your Piezas account
Sign up at app.piezas.ai/signup. You'll sign in with this account from your AI tool, and multi-factor authentication is required. You get an organization and your first app: your private workspace, with its own data and its own web address.
Step 2: Install Piezas (one-time)
Pick the one that fits how you work. All three build the same kind of app on Piezas.
Install the Codex extension
Follow Install the Piezas extension for Codex.
Install the Claude extension
Follow Install the Piezas extension for Claude.
Install the CLI
For any AI coding tool, or if you prefer to type the commands yourself.
- Install Node.js (the LTS version) from nodejs.org. It includes
npx. - Check it: in Terminal (Mac) or Command Prompt (Windows), type
node --version. If you see a version number, you are set. - There is nothing else to install:
npx piezasdownloads the Piezas command-line tool when you run it.
Using the extension, step by step
Works the same in Codex and Claude.
- Start. Open a new chat in an empty folder and say "Set up this folder for a new Piezas app".
- Sign in. The AI posts a Sign in to Piezas link. Open it, check the code matches, and click Approve. The AI carries on by itself.
- Answer the first question: "Starting fresh, or do you already have an app?" Starting fresh: it asks for your app's name and creates the app in your account. Already have one (built with Lovable, Claude Code, a freelancer or anything else): tell it where the folder is on your computer. It copies the app into a new folder and never changes your original.
- Switch on the checks. The first time, approve the Piezas checks, then start a new chat in the same folder. In the Codex app, open Settings, then Hooks, find your project under From Projects and click Trust all (step by step). In Codex in a terminal, type
/hooksand trust Piezas. In Claude, click Trust workspace, or say yes when Claude Code asks whether you trust the folder. - Describe it. It asks you one question at a time, then shows a short summary card and asks "Want to see it?" For an app you brought in, it drafts the description from your code instead, and lists what must move to Piezas and what Piezas can take over. You decide each item.
- Check the preview. You get a clickable preview with sample data. Ask for any changes. When you're happy, reply approve. Only your own reply counts.
- Let it build. It builds the real app. Checks run as it works and stop anything that breaks Piezas's rules. When its tests pass, it shows short clips of each part of the app working.
- Add any settings. If the app needs a key or setting, it tells you what's missing and where to set it: your app's page at app.piezas.ai, or a command to run in your own terminal. Never paste keys into the chat.
- Go live. It publishes and gives you the live address. The Report a problem button stays on unless you ask to turn it off. If something breaks a Piezas rule, it pauses and offers to fix it; only you can reply deploy anyway.
Later: open a chat in the same folder. If people reported problems with the Report a problem button, the AI tells you and offers to fix them all at once.
Using the CLI, step by step
1. Create your project
Make a new, empty folder for your app, open it in Terminal, and run:
npx piezas@latest login
npx piezas@latest init
login approves access in your browser; init creates your app and sets up the folder, with a guided spec mode and AI instructions ready to go.
2. Describe it — the AI interviews you
Open the folder in an AI assistant (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, or Windsurf) and run:
/piezas-spec
The assistant becomes a product manager and asks you one question at a time, then writes a complete SPEC.md — no code, just your answers. When it's done, it offers a paste-ready design prompt for Claude Design so you can get a polished look and screen layouts too.
3. Build and publish
Tell the assistant "Build this from SPEC.md" — it creates the app on Piezas. When you're happy, check it and publish it:
npx piezas doctor
npx piezas deploy
doctor checks the app is ready. deploy publishes it. If your app needs settings such as keys, set them on your app's page at app.piezas.ai or with npx piezas env set NAME=value — never paste them into the chat.
You get a live link to share. That's it.
Where to go next
- Build Your First App with Piezas.ai: the fuller walkthrough, with tips for each step.
- Tutorials — build a real app end to end (a CRM, then add sign-in, then a booking page).
- How-To Guides — short answers to specific tasks (custom domains, inviting teammates, API keys, MFA).
- Build with an AI Agent — the full story on spec mode and Claude Design.