Guide to Prompting

Learn how to craft effective prompts to get the best results from MUI Recipes.

Think of your prompts as conversations you're having with an expert developer. The better you explain what you want, the better results you'll get. This guide shows you how.

Starting New Projects

To start a new project from scratch, try using a template like this that outlines your requirements:

I need a {{type}} application with:

Tech Stack:
- Front end: React with TypeScript
- UI: Material UI with Emotion
- Auth: {{your choice}}
- Database: {{your choice}}

Core Features:
1. User authentication
2. {{secondary feature}}
3. {{tertiary feature}}

Start with the main page containing: {{detailed page requirements}}

Core Prompting Strategies

Start with the big picture

• Begin with your end goal and work backwards
• Let the MUI Recipes interpret your vision before diving into specifics
• Experiment with being intentionally vague sometimes—MUI Recipes can surprise you with better solutions

Example:

I want to build a marketplace app where:
- Users list items for sale
- Buyers browse and purchase
- Sellers track their sales

Break it down into smaller pieces

Instead of building everything at once, request specific parts:

1. First, the main page
2. Then, the listing form
3. Next, the search feature
4. Finally, user profiles

Pro tips:

• Break large files into logical components (header, main content, sidebar)
• For critical changes, say "Do not touch anything else, focus only on this task"
• When debugging gets stuck, say "Let's take a step back" to reset
• Right-click on a file to lock it, preventing MUI Recipes from making changes there. Right-click again to unlock.

Design and Component Strategies

How to adapt designs you love

Found a design you love? Here's how to use it:

1. Find and copy the component code (or screenshot it)
2. Show it to MUI Recipes with a prompt like this:

Make my navigation menu look like this style: {{component code/screenshot}}
Keep the same visual style but change it to include these menu items:
- Home
- Products
- About Us"