The Build Agent is the engine that transforms your PRD into a working product. Powered by Anthropic Claude, it writes production-ready code, page by page, following your requirements and brand standards.
When you trigger a build, the Build Agent reads your PRD and works through pages in priority order — P0 pages first, then P1, then P2. For each page, it selects the appropriate building blocks, configures them with your content and brand tokens, and writes the complete page file. It also creates any API routes, database schemas, or server-side logic the page requires.
The Build Agent verifies each page as it goes. After constructing a page, it runs the acceptance criteria from your PRD to confirm the page actually works — not just that the code compiles. If a verification fails, the agent fixes the issue and re-verifies before moving on. This means every page in your build is tested before you even see it.
Today, the Build Agent works inside Cursor IDE. Your project is a real Next.js codebase on your machine — you have full access to every file, can run it locally, and can deploy it anywhere. The Build Agent operates as an AI coding assistant within Cursor, reading your PRD and writing code in the same environment you would use manually.
This means you can intervene at any point. If the Build Agent creates a page and you want to tweak the layout, just edit the file. If you want to add a feature that is not in the PRD, tell the agent or write the code yourself. The agent and you share the same codebase — there is no separate "AI version" that gets out of sync.
The cloud builder will let you build products entirely from the Ship Something™ web app — no local IDE required. Describe your product by voice, review the PRD in the browser, and the Build Agent constructs everything on Ship Something™'s servers. You get a live preview URL, and when you are satisfied, the complete codebase is delivered as a GitHub repository you own. The cloud builder is designed for non-developers who want the full Ship Something™ experience without installing development tools.
