The Create With Podcast

We're back after the summer break, and there's a lot to catch up on.

James and Kieran recap this year's Create With Conference in Brighton: 550 attendees (nearly double last year), packed workshops, and a charity hackathon where people built fully functional AI apps in 30 minutes, including a recycling app using image recognition that looked professionally built.

They also share how they ran the whole event with AI: a custom conference operating system built with Claude Code as the single source of truth, auto-generated speaker videos, Raspberry Pi signage pulling live schedule data, automated financials and VAT returns, and the Face Hunt selfie game that transformed networking on the day.

Also in this episode: first impressions of Anthropic's Fable model, thoughts on GrokBot and the hype around autonomous agents, how scheduled tasks in Codex are quietly automating documentation and SEO, and why self-healing apps that detect and fix their own bugs are already here thanks to PostHog.

Got a real case study of AI or no-code in your business? We want to feature it. Get in touch at createwith.com

Kieran's seven-year-old daughter just started a web design business. Using Claude Code's voice mode, she built her own site, deployed it to Vercel, landed her first clients, and delivered a custom football website — all with zero coding knowledge. It's one of the best examples yet of what vibe coding makes possible.

From there, James and Kieran get into Claude Design — Anthropic's brand new design tool that already outperformed Google Stitch, Figma Make, and even Claude Code in a head-to-head landing page test. They break down how it works, what the design system approach means, and why it could become a serious Figma competitor.

They also cover the growing conversation around API key security in the age of AI agents, Cloudflare's AI week including their new transactional email service and why it's becoming the go-to platform for AI builders, and BuildPrint bringing Claude Code-level agentic development to Bubble.

🎟️ Create With Conference — June 25th, Brighton — advance tickets £49

👉 createwith.com🎉 After party on the beach just announced!

James and Kieran get into the practical, unglamorous side of building software with AI that nobody seems to talk about.

After a HubSpot integration silently broke his video testimonial app in front of a client, Kieran shares his journey into writing automated tests, and how Claude wrote a full test suite in five minutes that would have taken a developer a week.

They also cover replacing paid SaaS tools with custom-built alternatives (blogging platforms, course hosting, even a video-to-scope tool for freelance clients), why Convex is generating buzz as a Supabase alternative, how Apple and Shopify app stores are buckling under the wave of AI-generated submissions, and running OpenClaw agents autonomously in Slack as a marketing team of one.

Plus a first look at Anthropic's brand new scheduled tasks feature and what it means for running AI workflows without keeping your laptop open.

Topics covered:

• Writing tests for vibe-coded apps
• Convex vs Supabase
• App store review bottlenecks
• Replacing SaaS subscriptions with your own builds
• OpenClaw as an autonomous marketing agent
• Anthropic's scheduled tasks
• The rise of solo founders

🎟️ Create With Conference — June 25th, Brighton👉 createwith.com

🎙️ Special Guest EpisodeJames and Kieran are joined by Matt Roberts, co-founder of Happy Operators, to discuss what it's actually like using OpenClaw day-to-day — beyond the hype. From building an asset management system while walking the dog to shipping automated marketing tools on a $10/month server, Matt shares what's working, what's risky, and what's just noise.We also cover the new Buildprint MCP server for Bubble, a surprising study on Claude.MD files degrading performance, and why the builder mindset matters more than technical skill.⏰ Timestamps[00:00] VibeCoding Olympics Wrap-Up — 1000+ participants, 100 submitted products, and how attitudes are shifting overnight[04:09] OpenClaw Real Talk — Matt's approach: separate accounts, treating it like a new hire, and running it for under $10/month[10:36] Use Cases That Actually Work — Content Bloom (automated Shopify marketing), an asset manager built via Telegram, and multi-project management[18:11] Security Reality Check — The Meta AI incident, sandboxing strategies, and what permissions to actually give it[22:10] The Update Problem — Why "Bob" couldn't restart himself, and the messy reality of self-hosted agent maintenance[27:02] Manus vs OpenClaw — Meta's acquisition, the 300-ad-creative toggle, and why every platform is racing to add autonomous agents[30:30] Bubble's AI Revolution — The Build Prints MCP server, live editing from Claude Code, and how it compares to Bubble's native AI[31:30] Claude MD Files: Help or Harm? — New research suggesting project instructions may actually degrade model performance[33:36] The Builder Mindset — Why persistence beats technical knowledge, and how desktop apps are lowering the barrier💡 Key TakeawaysTreat OpenClaw like a sandboxed employee — give it its own accounts and limit what it can accessThe real value isn't unique capabilities; it's the user experience of building via Telegram while you're out and aboutSecurity through isolation beats trusting the agent with everythingClaude MD files may be doing more harm than good — worth revisiting your setupYou don't need to be technical, but you do need to be persistent and curious🔗 Join the CommunityCreate With Community Kickoff Party📅 Wednesday, March 4th🌐 createwith.com/joinA supportive space for non-technical builders learning AI tools — office hours, challenges, and no stupid questions.#OpenClaw #AIAgents #ClaudeCode #NoCode #VibeCoding #BuilderMindset #CreateWith #HappyOperators

James and Kieran explore the practical reality of building with Claude Code in 2026 - from instant website deployment to AI agents that manage your entire workflow.

Claude Code Workflows That Actually Work

• Deploy websites from folder to live URL in under 2 minutes
• Replace manual automations with GitHub cron jobs
• Generate beautiful email sequences from brand assets instantly with Claude Code
• Build personal AI operating systems for notes and task management

OpenClaw/Claude Bot Reality Check

• Setting up AI agents on $5/month VPS servers
• Watching agents build custom social media integrations in real-time
• Security concerns vs incredible automation potential
• Why it's fascinating but not ready for prime time

Bubble's Game-Changing Update

• In-app payments finally available for native mobile apps
• Consumer app monetization unlocked (despite 30% App Store fees)
• Integration with Bubble's AI agent builder for end-to-end app creation

Real-World Examples

• Julian from Memberstack rebuilding 100+ page website with Claude Code
• Daily content automation at howdoiuseai.com
• Personal productivity systems that actually work
• The 5-minute hackathon challenge coming to Create With Conference

The episode tackles the practical questions builders are asking: When do you trust AI with important automations? How do you balance speed vs reliability? What security practices matter when agents have broad access?

Live Claude Code Session - February 9thLearn marketing website development with real examples from Memberstack's rebuildRegister: https://luma.com/mk0tnl69

Vibe Coding OlympicsJoin the global competition and see what you can buildDetails: https://www.thevibecodinggames.com/

Create With Conference 2026June 25th, Brighton Center (on the seafront!)Early registration: https://createwith.com

After years of building with no-code tools, we've crossed the threshold. Claude Code has fundamentally changed how we build software - and we're all in. Watch as Kieran explains how he went from skeptic to building 4 SaaS products in 6 weeks, saving thousands in platform fees along the way.⏰ Timestamps[00:00] Welcome to 2026 - Everything Has Changed[01:03] From Skeptic to Convert: Kieran's Claude Code Journey[02:08] The Tipping Point: What Finally Made Him Try It[04:58] 🔥 Replacing $900/Year Podia with Custom Platform[07:54] Building Internal Tools That Replace Everything[10:56] ⚡ The Paradigm Shift: AI Code vs No-Code[14:36] Marketing Becomes Everything[19:35] 🛡️ Security & DevOps: The Final Frontier[23:05] 💼 Building a Shopify App in Hours[28:58] 📱 Vibe Code iOS: Building Apps ON Your Phone[32:10] 🎫 CREATE WITH CONFERENCE 2026 ANNOUNCEMENTNEW VENUE: Brighton Center (on the seafront!)June 25th, 2026Early bird tickets ending soon!🔗 Links & ResourcesConference & Tickets:🎟️ Early Bird Tickets (£35): https://createwith.com📅 June 25th, 2026 - Brighton Center, UK⏰ Early bird ends January 16th!Tools Mentioned:Claude Code: https://claude.aiPlaywright MCP: Testing automationContext7 MCP: Up-to-date documentationVibe Code iOS: https://vibecode.appShopify Dev MCP: App developmentConnect With Create With:🌐 Website: https://createwith.com📧 Newsletter: https://createwith.com/newsletter🐦 Twitter/X: @createwithhq💼 LinkedIn: /company/createwithhq📺 YouTube: @createwith

Live from Bangkok - 4 Mind-Blowing AI Use Cases from Our First Meetup

We're coming to you live from Bangkok after hosting our very first Create With AI meetup in Thailand - and it was absolutely incredible! The event sold out weeks in advance, and we got to see four amazing speakers showcase real-world AI applications they've built without traditional coding.

In this episode, James joins from Bangkok while Kieran dials in from Norwich to break down everything that happened at the event and discuss the latest developments in AI and no-code tools.

The 4 Bangkok Use Cases:

1. Instagram AI Agent for E-commerce (Jake)An automated system built in Make that responds to Instagram comments with full product knowledge - inventory, pricing, store locations, all in brand voice. Game-changing for e-commerce customer service.

2. Vacation Booking Platform (Stuart)A complete vacation booking system built with Claude Code that integrates with Airbnb's APIs. Stuart showed us how he's tapping into external platforms to create a full-featured booking dashboard.

3. Medical Lab Dashboard (Natt)This one blew our minds. Natt came from a biochemistry background and replaced 170 separate Google Forms with one unified dashboard using Xano + Claude Code. She showed us why separating your backend (Xano) from frontend (AI-generated) might be the secret sauce for non-coders building production apps.

4. Thailand's No-Code Movement (Opal)Opal runs a 10,000+ member Facebook group dedicated to no-code in Thailand, proving just how advanced and thriving the builder community is over there.

What Else We Cover:

• The Xano + Claude Code strategy: Why building your data structure visually and letting AI handle the UI might be the winning approach for non-technical builders
• AI Model Updates: Breaking down Gemini 3's Imagen breakthrough, Claude Opus 4.5's cost reduction, and why ChatGPT keeps confidently lying about dates
• Design's Future: Insights from a 20-person design agency founder on whether AI will replace designers (spoiler: only the bad ones)
• Vibe Coding Reality Check: What experienced developers actually think about AI coding tools and where they still fall short
• Google's Project IDX: First impressions of the new "Anti-Gravity" code editor from the ex-Windsurf team
• Codex vs Claude Code vs Cursor: What we're actually using day-to-day and why
• Community Spotlight: TechFoundHer's new "We Build" program aiming to get 150 women into building tech ventures

Upcoming:

• Norwich meetup in December
• More UK events in the North
• Future Asia meetups in planning
• Big announcement coming next week!

Want to host your own Create With meetup? Check out our Ambassador Program at https://createwithhq.notion.site/2ab7b439d1fc8080bdcfe7dd1ea2ab69?pvs=105

Follow the hosts:

• James Devonport: @jamesdevonport on X
• Kieran Ball: @kieranball on X

Learn more and find events near you:🌐 createwith.com📧 social.createwith.com

James and Kieran return from their summer break to discuss the seismic shifts happening in AI this week. With OpenAI's rumored agent builder launching at Dev Day and Google's Gemini 3 on the horizon, the entire SaaS industry might be about to change forever.

Kieran shares how he built an AI research agent for Typero that automatically generates LinkedIn posts based on your writing style, while James explores what OpenAI's new agent platform means for the future of software development. Plus: Softr's new database agents and why Notion AI might finally make sense.

AI Research Agent in Production [01:04]

• Building a LinkedIn content generator that actually sounds like you
• Connecting Bubble to N8n for automated research
• How GPT-5 dramatically improved output quality overnight

OpenAI's Agent Builder Preview [06:31]

• Canvas-style UI with nodes, triggers, and tools
• Dynamic widgets for custom agent interfaces
• Why this could be the end of traditional SaaS

The Fast Fashion Era of SaaS [09:33]

• Sam Altman's prediction coming true
• Will 95% of people ever care about building software?
• The creator vs consumer dynamic in AI

Softr's Database AI Agents [18:06]

• AI that works across your entire database
• Automated email drafting, image generation, and research
• Why integrated AI beats standalone tools

This Week's Announcements

• Gemini 3 launch imminent
• Sora 2 taking over Instagram
• October Create With meetups worldwide

🇪🇸 Madrid - Oct 7🇪🇸 Barcelona - Oct 13🇬🇧 London (Bubble Tour) - Oct 15-16🇬🇧 Bristol - Oct 22🇬🇧 Brighton - Oct 29

Create With Newsletter: createwith.com

Event Directory: createwith.com/events

Newsletter: Every Tuesday at createwith.comCommunity: Join builders worldwide at our meetups

The Create With podcast: Building apps, agents, and automations without code using AI.

Build more, hype less. In this week’s Create With podcast, James and Kieran dig into practical ways non-developers can ship serious features with AI. We share what finally “clicked” with Claude Code, how to spin up simple Bubble plugins (goodbye $5/mo ICS generators), first impressions of GPT-5 (the good, the weird, and the slow), why object-preserving image edits could upend Photoshop, and how we’re automating the Create With site - events, tools, blog posts end-to-end.We’re the calm corner of the internet for AI: thoughtful, hands-on, no doom-scrolling required.#️⃣ What we coverGetting started with Claude Code as a non-dev (and why it’s addictive once your environment’s set up)Shipping real features solo vs. contracting devs (speed, cost, iteration)Using AI for back-office work (accounting Q&A, document consolidation)Bubble plugin basics: generating .ics calendar files with your own pluginGPT-5 first impressions + Responses API growing painsRumored next-gen image editing (“Nano Banana?”) and why object-preserving edits matterFavorite entries from the Bubble Mobile contestOur Create With site relaunch: AI-powered events directory, tools, perks, and auto-generated posts“Dom’s Day” vibe-coding hackathon idea🎙️ Sponsor — GlideCreate AI-powered business apps that connect to your data and tools, automate manual work, and scale as you grow—no code required. Perfect if you live in spreadsheets and want real apps fast. Check out GlideApps.com.⏱️ Chapters00:00 Intro & why we’re the calm corner of AI02:20 Sponsor: Glide03:20 Claude Code: setup, flow state, and shipping big features10:45 Solo shipping vs. hiring devs12:50 AI for accounting & document Q&A13:50 Building a Bubble plugin (ICS invites)17:25 GPT-5: wins, misses, and API hurdles23:00 Next-gen image editing rumors (“Nano Banana”)26:20 Why object-preserving edits change everything27:10 Bubble Mobile contest favorites28:00 Create With site relaunch: events, tools, automations31:40 Member perks & tool discounts32:15 “Dom’s Day” vibe-coding hackathon35:25 Upcoming events (Montréal Sept 11 + Barcelona, Madrid, Brighton, Norwich, Thailand)36:40 Wrap🔗 MentionedClaude Code • Bubble • Glide • n8n • Cursor • GitHub • Make • Replit • Jotform • Cloudflare Workers • UserLoop📺 Watch nextOur step-by-step Claude Code setup & tutorial (on this channel)👋 Join the communityEvents directory & RSVP: createwith.comNewsletter with tools, templates, and perksIf you try Claude Code after this episode—or ship your own Bubble plugin—drop a comment with what you built. We’ll feature our favorite projects in a future episode.