THE VAULT / START HERE / GUIDE + PROMPTS

The Pro Stack, Distilled

This is the org chart behind a real production app: every tool is an employee with a plain-English job title and a salary, grouped into five departments. You are not here to hire all nineteen. You are here to see what a scalable setup looks like, understand why each robot is on payroll, and then start with three hires and one concierge prompt that sets them up for you.

LAST VERIFIED 2026-07-09

NOTE

Use this page as a prompt reference. Every file below is built to be handed straight to an AI. Download it, drop it into Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or Lovable, and say "use this as my playbook." The prompts on this page are copy-paste ready.

A pro's stack is an org chart, not a shopping list

Every tool below is a real employee of a real revenue-generating consumer app. Each one has a job you could explain to a friend and a salary you can verify. Most earn under $30/mo, many work for free.

One term unlocks the whole hiring philosophy: a CLI (command-line interface) is the text-command version of an app, which matters because AI agents can type. Nearly every hire below has a CLI or an API (a way for programs to talk to a tool), so a robot can operate it instead of you.

The three rules this stack was built on

[ ]Separate the marketing site from the app. Different jobs, different risk. When one breaks, the other keeps selling.
[ ]Own your code and data from day one. Code in GitHub (a service that stores your project with full history), data somewhere you can export from.
[ ]Prefer tools with a CLI or API. If a robot can operate it, you can delegate it. Click-only tools are jobs you keep forever.

The payroll: 5 departments, 19 robots

Prices verified July 2026. Where a cost depends on usage, the number is a typical range, not a promise.

The Builders (writing the product)

Tool	Job	Cost
Zed	The code editor: the desk where the human and the AI sit together.	Free; Pro $10/mo. Bringing your own Claude plan works free.
Claude + Claude Code	The senior engineer. Writes and debugs the code, in chat and in the terminal.	Claude Pro $20/mo includes Claude Code; Max from $100/mo.
GitHub	The filing cabinet with a memory: every version of the code, forever undoable.	Free tier is fine for solo.
Design system from a screenshot	The art director. A prompt extracts a full design system from a screenshot of a site you admire. No design software on payroll.	$0. Method: Design Heist Kit.

The Building (hosting and running)

Tool	Job	Cost
AWS (via CLI)	The landlord. Hosts the app itself: servers, database, heavy machinery.	Usage-based, typically $10-75/mo for a small app.
Cloudflare R2 + Images (via CLI)	The warehouse. Stores and serves images with zero egress fees (charges for data leaving storage).	10GB free; typically $0-15/mo with transforms.
Vercel	Hosts the marketing site only (rule 1). Push code, site is live.	Hobby free; Pro $20/mo incl. $20 credit.
Supabase	The quick-build contractor: database plus login for small side projects, in minutes.	Free tier; Pro $25/mo.
Trigger.dev	The night shift. Runs background jobs (work no user is waiting on, like scheduled emails).	Free $5 credit/mo usually covers a small app; Hobby $10/mo.

WATCH OUT

Four traps in this department. AWS's free tier is now $200 in credits that expire after 6 months (the old 12-months-free is gone). Cloudflare's free image transforms hard-fail at 5,001 uncached transforms. Vercel's Hobby tier is non-commercial only, so a revenue app on it violates the terms, and Pro overages are uncapped by default: set a spend limit first. Supabase free-tier projects pause after 1 week of inactivity.

The Money (getting paid, letting people in)

Tool	Job	Cost
Stripe	The cashier. Card payments and subscriptions.	No monthly fee; 2.9% + $0.30 per US transaction. Billing add-on 0.5-0.7%.
Clerk	The doorman. Sign-ups, logins, user accounts (auth: proving a user is who they say they are).	Free to 50K monthly retained users; Pro $25/mo.

NOTE

The Clerk asterisk: the recommendation from inside this stack is to prefer Supabase auth instead, unless you are building B2B (selling to businesses), where Clerk's organization features earn their keep. Since February 2026 Clerk's free tier covers 50K retained users, so price is no longer the objection; the B2B features are the whole question.

The Megaphone (marketing, all robot-operable)

Tool	Job	Cost
Meta + Google Ads (via API)	The ad buyers. Campaigns created and tuned programmatically, not by clicking dashboards.	API free; ad spend is yours.
Instagram (via API)	The social intern that never sleeps: a custom tool publishes posts through the official API.	Free. Needs a professional account; images must sit at a public URL.
Outrank	The content writer: auto-published SEO articles (writing that makes Google send visitors).	$99/mo for 30 articles. outrank.so
Winnr	The outreach caller: cold-email infrastructure for partnership and sponsor outreach.	Startup $69/mo for 50 mailboxes. winnr.app
Resend	The mailroom. Sends marketing and product email from your domain.	Free 3K emails/mo; Pro $20/mo.

WATCH OUT

Two traps here. Resend's free tier also caps at 100 emails per day, and that cap bites long before the monthly one. And Google Ads API access needs a manager account plus token approval, with review backlogs running weeks in 2026: apply before you need it.

The Watchers (knowing what is happening)

Tool	Job	Cost
PostHog (via MCP)	The analyst. Tracks what users do; via MCP (a standard that lets an AI use a tool directly) you ask your analytics questions in plain English.	1M events/mo free.
GA4 + GTM	The traffic counter. Visitor counts and tag management, both now settable via API.	Free.
Sentry (via CLI)	The smoke detector. Catches production errors and reports exactly what broke.	Free 5K errors/mo; Team $26/mo. Slack alerts need Team.
Slack	The intercom. Every alert and progress report from the other robots lands in one channel.	Free tier fine for alerts (webhooks work; 90-day history).

The Concierge Prompt: it interviews you, then sets everything up

You should not copy this stack. You should hand it to an AI and let the AI pick your 3-5 pieces, then walk you through account setup one confirmed step at a time, assuming zero terminal experience. The whole reference stack is embedded in the prompt, so it is self-contained: open a fresh Claude chat and paste.

PROMPT: THE CONCIERGE SETUP PROMPT (paste into a fresh Claude chat)

I'm new to building. Below is a pro's production architecture: a real stack behind a scalable consumer app. I do NOT want to copy all of it. Your job:

PHASE 1: INTERVIEW ME.
Ask me about what I'm building, ONE question at a time. Wait for my answer before the next question. Cover at minimum: what the product does, who it's for, whether I charge money (and how: one-time, subscription), whether users need accounts, whether I need a marketing site separate from the app, how technical I am, and my monthly tool budget. Keep it to 6-8 questions.

PHASE 2: PICK MY PIECES.
From the reference stack below, pick the 3-5 tools I actually need right now. For each pick, tell me in plain English: its job, why I need it NOW (not later), and its price. For everything you did NOT pick, one line on when I'd add it. Then wait for my approval of the list before setting anything up.

PHASE 3: SET EVERYTHING UP WITH ME.
Walk me through creating each account and connecting the pieces, ONE step at a time, and WAIT for me to confirm each step is done before giving the next one. Assume I have never used a terminal. When a CLI (a text-command version of an app) is needed, walk me through installing it and logging in, one copy-paste command at a time, and tell me what I should see if it worked. Explain every new word in one sentence the first time you use it. Tell me the exact button names and where they are on the page.

HARD RULES:
- Never set up a paid tier without telling me the price first and getting my OK.
- If a free tier has a trap (usage cap, auto-pause, non-commercial terms), warn me when we set it up, not after it bites.
- Wherever a spend limit or budget alert exists, we set it up as part of the install, not as an optional extra.
- If I say a step didn't work, ask me what I see on screen before guessing at fixes.
- Follow these rules from the reference architecture: keep the marketing site separate from the app; make sure my code ends up in GitHub and my data is exportable; prefer tools with a CLI or API.

THE REFERENCE STACK (a pro's real production architecture, July 2026 prices):

Builders (writing the product):
- Zed: code editor. Free; Pro $10/mo; bringing your own Claude plan works free.
- Claude + Claude Code: the AI engineer, in chat and terminal. Claude Pro $20/mo includes Claude Code; Max from $100/mo.
- GitHub: stores every version of the code. Free tier fine for solo.
- Design: no design tool; a "design system from a screenshot" prompt does the job for $0.

Building (hosting and running):
- AWS via CLI: hosts the app itself. Usage-based, typically $10-75/mo for a small app. Free tier is now $200 in credits that expire in 6 months.
- Cloudflare R2 + Images via CLI: stores and serves images, zero egress fees. 10GB free, typically $0-15/mo. Free image transforms hard-fail at 5,001 uncached.
- Vercel: hosts the MARKETING SITE only. Hobby free but non-commercial use only; Pro $20/mo with $20 credit. Overages uncapped by default: set a spend limit.
- Supabase: database + login for small projects. Free tier pauses projects after 1 week of inactivity; Pro $25/mo.
- Trigger.dev: background jobs. Free $5 credit/mo usually covers a small app; Hobby $10/mo.

Money:
- Stripe: payments. No monthly fee; 2.9% + $0.30 per US transaction.
- Clerk: sign-ups and logins. Free to 50K monthly retained users; Pro $25/mo. The pro's advice: prefer Supabase auth unless building B2B.

Megaphone (marketing):
- Meta + Google Ads via API: programmatic ad management. API free, ad spend is yours. Google Ads API approval can take weeks.
- Instagram via API: automated posting. Free; needs a professional account and images at a public URL.
- Outrank: auto-published SEO articles. $99/mo for 30 articles.
- Winnr: cold-email infra for partnership and sponsor outreach. Startup $69/mo for 50 mailboxes.
- Resend: sends emails from your domain. Free 3K/mo BUT capped at 100/day; Pro $20/mo.

Watchers (knowing what's happening):
- PostHog via MCP: product analytics, 1M events/mo free. MCP lets an AI query it in plain English.
- GA4 + GTM: website traffic counting. Free.
- Sentry via CLI: catches production errors. Free 5K errors/mo; Team $26/mo (Slack alerts need Team).
- Slack: where all robot alerts land. Free tier fine (webhooks work, 90-day history).

Start Phase 1 now. First question only.

Already building in Lovable? Skip the interview and paste this instead:

PROMPT: THE LOVABLE VARIANT (GitHub sync + Payment Link + analytics)

I have an existing app built in Lovable. Walk me through three upgrades, one step at a time, waiting for me to confirm each step before the next. Assume I have never used a terminal or GitHub. Explain every new word in one sentence. Tell me exact button names and where they are. Never set up anything paid without telling me the price first.

1. GITHUB SYNC: connect my Lovable project to GitHub so I own a copy of my code with full history. Free tier.

2. STRIPE PAYMENT LINK: create a Stripe account and a Payment Link (a checkout page Stripe hosts, no code needed) so I can charge for my product. Stripe has no monthly fee; it takes 2.9% + $0.30 per US transaction.

3. ANALYTICS: add basic analytics to my Lovable app so I can see visitors and what they do. Recommend PostHog (free for 1M events/mo) or GA4 (free), explain the difference in two sentences, and let me choose before we set it up.

Start with step 1 now. Ask me first: is my Lovable project published, and do I already have a GitHub account?

Start with three robots, not nineteen

The entry-level version of this whole architecture is three hires plus a part-timer. Each covers a job you cannot skip:

1
Hire 1: Lovable (the builder)
Turns your description into a working app in the browser. No editor, no terminal. Replaces the entire Builders department for now.
2
Hire 2: GitHub (own your code)
Rule 2 of the stack: your code lives under your name, outside the builder tool, with full history. Lovable syncs to it built-in. Deep dive: GitHub for Normal People.
3
Hire 3: Stripe Payment Link (get paid)
A checkout page Stripe hosts for you: create a product, get a URL, put it behind your buy button. No monthly fee, 2.9% + $0.30 per US transaction. Deep dive: the Get Paid kit.
4
Hire 3.5: your first analytics (the counter)
PostHog (1M events/mo free, shows what users do in the app) or GA4 (free, shows where visitors come from). Pick one in week one.

Robot #4 is error tracking (Sentry, free for 5K errors/mo), the moment real strangers use your app. Robot #5 is email (Resend, free 3K/mo, mind the 100/day cap), the moment you need to talk to your users. Do not hire ahead of the pain.

PAYOFF

The only mistake available here is hiring nineteen robots before robot one has shipped anything. Three hires, one afternoon, then build.

When you outgrow this

Two next steps up the ladder. When you want to actually build the grown-up architecture instead of studying it, the SaaS Starter Stack is the buildable version of this org chart. And when you are ready for the terminal, Claude Code, and a real local setup, the Workspace Setup Kit installs the whole desk, one copy-paste command at a time.

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