Phase 1 Setup: Building the Foundation
I started by running create-next-agility-app to spin up a new Next.js project with Agility CMS integration. The AI agent set up ShadCN UI with the 'new-york' style and 'neutral' base color, installed base components, and created the complete folder structure.
Phase 1 Setup: Building the Foundation
Date: January 6, 2025
Phase: Phase 1 - Project Setup
Status: Complete
Note: This post is written from Joel's perspective (first person "I" = Joel). Technical details sections are clearly marked as written by the AI agent (Cursor - Claude Code).
How We Got Here
I started by running create-next-agility-app to spin up a new Next.js project with Agility CMS integration. Then I copied my DEVELOPMENT.md file into the project folder and renamed it DEVELOPMENT-PLAN.md.
Here's where it got interesting. I switched Cursor to planning mode and asked it to follow the development plan. The AI agent did something I'd never seen before – it created its own planning system, set up a new file called AGENTS.md, and created a process-docs folder structure.
This was actually pretty cool. The AI was thinking ahead about how to document the process, which is exactly the kind of thing I want it to do. It's not just executing – it's helping me think through the whole approach.
What We Built
Phase 1 is done. The AI agent set up ShadCN UI with the "new-york" style and "neutral" base color, installed base components (Button, Card, Dialog, Aspect Ratio), and created the complete folder structure. The agent also created AGENTS.md as the single source of truth for all AI agents working on this project.
The foundation is solid. We can build on this.
Decisions I Made
- ShadCN Style: "new-york" for modern and clean
- Base Color: Neutral for flexibility
- Component Strategy: Install base components first, add specialized libraries as needed
- Documentation: Collaborative – AI does technical content, I add the human perspective
What Went Wrong
ShadCN Init Prompts: The initialization wanted interactive prompts. The agent fixed this by using echo with newline-separated answers to automate it.
Pre-existing TypeScript Errors: The agent found some in existing code. We'll fix them when we work on those specific features – no point in fixing everything at once.
What's Next
Phase 1 is done. Now we move to Phase 2: Core Infrastructure – setting up Agility CMS content models using the MCP Server, creating containers, and building base layout components.
Joel's Thoughts / Reflections
This was an easy start - I used a pre-release version of our create-next-agility-app npm package and a blank Agility CMS instance. I picked some default styles, and some sites to use as inspiration.
Let's go!