Bolt — How-to Guide (set up, use & best practices)

Step by step

Follow along

1

Open Bolt in your browser

Go to bolt.new — no installation needed. You can start building immediately with a free account using your email or by signing in with GitHub or Google.
2

Describe your app in the prompt box

Type a plain-English description of what you want to build (for example, 'a to-do app with a dark theme and local storage') and click 'Build now'. Bolt's AI agent generates a full project with code, routing, and a live preview.
3

Review the generated code and live preview

Bolt shows a split view with the generated code on one side and a live preview on the other. You can inspect files in the file tree and see your app running instantly without any local setup.
4

Iterate by chatting with the agent

Type follow-up instructions in the chat panel — for example, 'add a login page' or 'change the button color to blue' — and Bolt edits the relevant files and refreshes the preview automatically.
5

Import from GitHub or Figma

Use the 'Import from GitHub' or 'Import from Figma' options on the homepage to start from an existing repository or design file instead of an empty project.
6

Publish and share your app

Click the 'Publish' or 'Deploy' button to get a live public URL for your project hosted on Bolt Cloud, which includes built-in hosting, a database, and user authentication.

Do it like a pro

✦ Be specific in your initial prompt — include layout details, technology preferences (e.g., React, Tailwind), and the key features you need to get useful output on the first try.

✦ Use short, focused follow-up messages for changes rather than rewriting the whole prompt; Bolt handles incremental edits well.

✦ Check the generated code in the file tree before deploying — AI-generated code can include unnecessary dependencies or incomplete error handling.

✦ Use the built-in design-system options (Shadcn, Material UI, Chakra) to get consistent styling without extra prompting.

✦ Token limits apply per session; for large projects, break the build into logical phases (skeleton, then features, then styling) across multiple prompts.