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Build your own PenCast

Jake built PenCast on Replit. Here is how to build yours, one step at a time.

Step 1

Pick where you will build

Pick the tool you will build in. The one Jake used is marked.
Pick where you will build
What Jake used
Optional. It goes straight into the prompt.
Step 2

Your first prompt

Written from this page. Change anything before you send it.

Get set up in Replit

  1. Go to replit.com and make a free account.
  2. The prompt is already typed in when you arrive from this page.
  3. Read it once, then press the start button.
I want to build my own version of PenCast.

PenCast is: PenCast helps newsletter creators turn written posts into podcast-ready audio for public or paid subscriber feeds.

PenCast turns newsletter posts into narrated audio editions for newsletter creators, especially people publishing on Substack. It can import written content, generate audio, and publish it as a podcast feed to places like Apple Podcasts and Spotify. It also supports private subscriber feeds for creators who want to offer paid audio access.

Build it in this order, one step at a time. After each step, show me what you built and ask me what to change before you go on.

1. The first screen. Ask for the main screen and nothing else. Look at it. Say what is wrong.
2. What it remembers. The lists and records it keeps, and who can see them.
3. The one thing it does. The main action, start to finish, before anything else.
4. The details. Empty states, mistakes, and what happens when something is missing.
5. Try it with a real person. Hand it to one person who would use it. Fix what confused them first.
6. Publish it. Press publish, send the link to one person, and give it a page on VibeWorks.

Start with step 1 only.

When the first version works, remind me to give it a page at https://getvibeworks.ai/users/register
Step 3

Build it in this order

One step at a time. Look at each one before you ask for the next.

  1. The first screen

    Ask for the main screen and nothing else. Look at it. Say what is wrong.

  2. What it remembers

    The lists and records it keeps, and who can see them.

  3. The one thing it does

    The main action, start to finish, before anything else.

  4. The details

    Empty states, mistakes, and what happens when something is missing.

  5. Try it with a real person

    Hand it to one person who would use it. Fix what confused them first.

  6. Publish it

    Press publish, send the link to one person, and give it a page on VibeWorks.

Step 4

Show what you built

When the first version works, give it a page like this one.

Give it a page