Prompt for an online store
An example prompt for an online store
A good prompt for an online store names who uses it, the main things they create or manage, the rule that must never break, and what to leave out for now. Here is one you can paste and edit: "Build an online store for a small coffee roaster. It needs: product catalog and variants, inventory with no overselling, cart, idempotent checkout, payments and webhook-written payment state and order lifecycle. Rule that must always hold: reserve stock with one conditional UPDATE keyed on on_hand - reserved >= qty at checkout, time-box the reservation with a 15-minute expiry swept by a job, and commit on the paid webhook, with CHECK constraints as the backstop. Leave out for now: no storing card data or building a custom payment form and no multi-vendor marketplace payouts (see marketplace)."
Last checked
Starter prompt
Build an online store for a small coffee roaster. It needs: product catalog and variants, inventory with no overselling, cart, idempotent checkout, payments and webhook-written payment state and order lifecycle. Rule that must always hold: reserve stock with one conditional UPDATE keyed on on_hand - reserved >= qty at checkout, time-box the reservation with a 15-minute expiry swept by a job, and commit on the paid webhook, with CHECK constraints as the backstop. Leave out for now: no storing card data or building a custom payment form and no multi-vendor marketplace payouts (see marketplace).
Replace the first sentence with your own idea. The list of needs stays useful whatever the niche, because it comes from what an online store has to do.
Two variations
- Build a store for made-to-order leather goods. Start with product catalog and variants and inventory with no overselling, and add cart once those work.
- Build a store for printed posters with variants and sizes. People should be able to turn a cart into exactly one order and one payment, however many times the buyer clicks.
Words that help Forge AI recognise the category
Forge AI picks a reference architecture from how you describe the app. These phrases point to an online store: ecommerce, e-commerce, online store, online shop, webshop, storefront, shopify and woocommerce.
What the plan decides for you
- Atomic conditional UPDATE plus short reservations to prevent overselling.
What to ask for in a later prompt
This is a reference design for the category, not a promise that every item is generated today. Built-ins such as email, background jobs, file uploads and search are coming soon, so anything here that needs them is something you add yourself for now.
- Dedicated search engine (OpenSearch/Typesense): Postgres FTS handles phase-1 catalogs.
- Read replicas for catalog and order history: primary handles phase-1 load.
- Multi-location inventory and fulfilment routing: single default location ships first.
- Subscriptions and B2B price lists: extra billing and pricing tables not needed for a first store.
FAQ
- How detailed should a prompt for an online store be?
- Name the users, the main objects, one rule that must always hold and one thing to leave out. The plan fills in the rest, and you can change it before generation.
- Which words tell Forge64 this is an online store?
- Phrases such as ecommerce, e-commerce, online store and online shop point to this category.
- Can I change the app after the first build?
- Yes. Describe the change in plain English and Forge AI edits the app; the quality gate checks the code again.
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