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Harshallahare
Harshallahare

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I Built an AI Platform in 31 Days - Here's What I Learned (Day 31/90)

#ai #saas #buildinpublic #indiehacker

🚀 Building an AI Platform in 90 Days: Month 1 Complete

Day 31 Update: Just deployed email notifications, webhooks, and analytics. Here's the raw truth about building solo.

📊 The Numbers (No BS)

  • Days: 31/90 complete (34%)
  • Code Files: 49 new files this week
  • Deployments: 15+ (Vercel is free, remember?)
  • Coffee: Too much ☕

🛠️ What I Built This Week

Day 28: Background Scheduler

Cron-based workflow execution. Users set schedules, system runs automatically.

Tech: Next.js API routes + Prisma + cron-job.org (free tier, unlimited!)

Key Learning: Vercel Hobby = 1 cron/day max. Workaround: External cron service.

Day 29: Email Notifications

Users get emails when workflows start, complete, or fail.

Tech: Resend (3K emails/month free) + React Email components

Key Learning: Email templates as React components = game changer for consistency.

Day 30: Analytics Dashboard

Real-time stats: executions, success rates, execution times.

Tech: Recharts + Prisma aggregations

Key Learning: Database queries can get expensive. Cache aggressively.

Day 31: Webhook Triggers

External services can trigger workflows via webhook.

Tech: HMAC signature verification + webhook retry logic

Key Learning: Always verify webhook signatures. Security first.

💡 Biggest Lessons

1. Start Ugly, Iterate Fast

My first dashboard was garbage. Deployed anyway. Got feedback. Improved. Repeat.

Perfection = shipped later. Done = shipped today.

2. Free Tier is Your Friend

  • Vercel: Free hosting
  • Supabase: Free DB (500MB)
  • Resend: 3K emails/month
  • cron-job.org: Unlimited cron triggers

Total monthly cost: ₹0 (until you scale)

3. TypeScript Saves Hours

Caught 20+ bugs before deployment. The 10 minutes of type errors = 2 hours of debugging saved.

4. Document As You Go

I write README files immediately after building. Future me (and users) will thank present me.

🔥 What's Next (Days 32-40)

  • Day 32-33: User Management (roles, permissions)
  • Day 34-35: API Key System (for external integrations)
  • Day 36-37: Workflow Templates Marketplace
  • Day 38-40: Multi-language Support (Hindi, Tamil, Telugu)

🎯 Advice for Solo Builders

  1. Ship Daily: Even if it's small. Momentum > perfection.
  2. Use Free Tools: Don't spend until you have revenue.
  3. Build in Public: Share progress. People will support your journey.
  4. Sleep: Burnout kills projects. 8 hours > 2 extra coding hours.

🔗 Links

Day 32 starts tomorrow. Building user management. Follow along! 👋

ad #BuildInPublic #AI #SaaS #IndieHacker

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you sign up using my links, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I actually use.

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