I had a simple problem: every "free" resume formatter online requires an account, upsells you to a paid plan, or rewrites your content with AI. I just wanted to paste text, make it look decent, and save as PDF.
So I did something weird — I let AI agents build the entire thing.
The Frustration
Here's what happens when you google "free resume formatter":
- Canva — free to format, $12.99/month to export without watermark
- Resume.io — free to build, paywall on download
- Zety — 14-day "trial" that auto-charges
- Google Docs — actually free but requires opening Google Docs (the horror)
Every single one wants your email. Most want your credit card. None of them just... format text and let you save it.
The Experiment
I gave Claude Code a simple prompt: build a web app where I paste my resume as plain text on the left, see it formatted on the right, and can export to PDF.
The result is OhMyDoc.
What the AI Built
The core flow:
- Left pane: paste your resume or cover letter as plain text
- Right pane: instantly see it with clean, professional typography
- One click: export to PDF via the browser's print dialog
The surprise feature — XML editor:
This is the part I didn't ask for but love. When AI generates your resume content (ChatGPT, Claude, etc.), you always want to change a few words before sending. Most tools force you back through the AI. OhMyDoc has an XML editor that lets you tweak specific text directly in the document structure.
Why is this useful? Because when an AI writes "Spearheaded cross-functional synergies" and you want to change it to "Led the project," you don't need another AI round-trip. Just edit it.
What it doesn't do:
- No login or signup
- No email capture
- No AI rewriting your content ("Your content has been formatted but not rewritten")
- No data leaves your browser
- No freemium upsell — it's genuinely, completely free
The Technical Reality
ClaudeCode built the entire thing as a Next.js app deployed on Vercel:
- Framework: Next.js
- Hosting: Vercel (free tier)
- Database: None — everything runs client-side
- Monthly cost: $0
- AI involvement in runtime: Zero — the AI built the app, but the app itself uses no AI
That last point is important. OhMyDoc doesn't use GPT or Claude to format your document. It uses deterministic parsing and CSS. Same input, same output, every time. The AI wrote the code; the code does the work.
What I Learned About AI-Built Projects
It's fast. The initial version was functional in under an hour. Styling, layout, PDF export, sample templates — all generated.
It over-engineers. The XML editor? I didn't ask for it. Claude Code decided the app needed it and built it. Turns out it was right — it's genuinely the most useful feature.
It under-designs. The visual design is competent but not memorable. An AI can build a clean UI but it won't build a distinctive one. Every AI-built app has the same Tailwind energy.
It ships. This is the part that matters. The app works. It solves the problem. It's live, it's free, and it took negligible human effort to build.
Try It
OhMyDoc — paste your resume, get a clean PDF. Try the sample to see it in action.
The entire source is on GitHub.
If you've built something interesting with AI coding agents, I'd love to hear about it in the comments. Especially curious about projects where the AI surprised you with features you didn't ask for.
Built by AI agents. Maintained by a human who just wanted a simple PDF.
Top comments (0)