What Should I Build

What Should I Build?

The ironic one: an app that generates project ideas, built because someone asked an AI what to build next.

Tell it your skill level, tech stack, interests, time available, and portfolio goals — get back 5 specific, buildable project ideas instead of another todo-app-or-weather-app suggestion.

Skill level        Intermediate
Tech stack         Next.js, TypeScript, AI/LLM APIs
Interests          music, developer tools
Time available     2-4 weeks
Portfolio goals     land a frontend job

Each idea comes back with a pitch, why it specifically fits what you told it, a concrete tech stack, a realistic time estimate, key features that define a "done" first version, the portfolio value, and optional stretch goals. Star the ones worth keeping — "Generate 5 more" replaces the rest without losing what you saved.

Stack

Next.js (App Router) + TypeScript + Tailwind CSS + the Anthropic API (forced tool-use for structured output).

Running it locally

npm install
npm run dev

Then open [http://localhost:3000](http://localhost:3000), fill in the form, and generate.

Environment variables

Copy `.env.example` to `.env.local`:

Variable	Required	Purpose
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY	Yes	Powers the idea generation. Get one at console.anthropic.com.

How it's structured

src/
  app/
    api/ideas/route.ts   # POST endpoint: validates the profile, generates 5 ideas
    page.tsx                # the form + results, with client-side "save" state
  components/
    IdeaCard.tsx  # one idea: pitch, difficulty, stack, features, portfolio value, stretch goals
  lib/
    generate.ts       # builds the prompt, forces structured tool-use output
    types.ts            # shared types + the option lists (skill levels, time ranges, common stacks)

Notes

• Nothing is stored server-side — saved ideas live only in the browser tab's state for that session.
• The prompt explicitly