DEV Community: André Casal

I built a free .cursorrules generator for your stack

André Casal — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 14:24:02 +0000

If you use Cursor, you probably know that a good .cursorrules file makes a huge difference in code quality. But writing one from scratch is tedious — and most templates online are either too generic or don't match your stack.

So I built a free generator that creates real, opinionated cursor rules tailored to your exact setup.

How it works

Select your framework (Remix, Next.js, SvelteKit, Astro, Express/Fastify)
Pick your language preference (TypeScript strict, relaxed, or JavaScript)
Choose your database, styling, auth, and testing setup
Get 100-126+ lines of production-ready cursor rules — instantly

No signup. No email gate. Just pick your stack and download the file.

What's in the generated rules?

This isn't a 10-line skeleton. Each generated file includes:

Project identity — framework, language, architecture constraints
Code style rules — naming conventions, formatting, patterns
Architecture constraints — file structure, separation of concerns
Framework-specific rules — e.g. Remix loaders/actions, server/client boundaries
Database rules — query patterns, migration discipline
Security rules — input validation, env vars, CSRF protection
Testing rules — co-location, naming, what to test
AI-specific guidance — what to avoid, how to handle ambiguity

Try it

https://launchfast.pro/tools/cursorrules-generator

Would love feedback — what rules do you wish were included? What framework/tool support would you add?

Product and landing page improvements, meeting makers in Lisbon, and organizing a Hackathon ✨

André Casal — Sun, 29 Sep 2024 15:44:02 +0000

Hey there, I’m André – tech entrepreneur and founder of LaunchFast. If you’re new here, LaunchFast is a stack designed to help web developers speed up their project development process, from launch to scale. I’m building in public, and I’ve been sharing daily updates on my journey.

First of all, apologies for not having written as many updates as I used to. I was trying something out but I’ve gotten plenty of requests to keep sharing my progress and learning in public. So, experiment over, and here I am.

So, here’s what’s on the docket for today:

Improved the landing page
Learned about and installed Microsoft Clarity, a free-forever alternative to HotJar/Crazy Egg
Partnered with Jim as an affiliate
(almost) Finished integrating subscription payments on LaunchFast
Meeting makers
Next steps

Let’s go!

Improved the landing page

I’ve made a big jump from the original landing page to the current one. The flow is cleaner, the benefits are clearer, but it still has a long way to go.

Also, documentation to educate my potential customers is going to be paramount.

I’ve recently come across Daniel Hansson’s talk about this marketing movement to exploit developers’ insecurities about touching servers (Vercel), databases (Supabase), and authentication (Auth0, Supabase, Firebase, etc). It’s gross, and it makes me sad and want to be an even more powerful force for developer empowerment.

That’s why LaunchFast rolls its own auth and database - you don’t have to pay for this, and it’s not that scary. But I do understand I need to educate my users and help them distinguish salience from truth - just because everyone’s talking about it, doesn’t mean it’s true/useful/worth your time.

Microsoft Clarity

I’m blown away by MS Clarity. It’s a great product, you get to inspect what your users are doing and figure out what works and what doesn’t, it anonymizes all information and is GDPR compliant, and you get heatmaps to see how far down users scroll your page, so you can improve your copy. I haven’t fully explored its capabilities, because, for now, I only need user behavior and heatmaps to improve my landing page.

But I’m happy that I have, once again, found a free alternative that is as good as paid solutions.

Partnered with Jim as an affiliate

Jim contacted me about KeyMentions (KM), a marketing SaaS Jim and his team are creating. I’ve been giving them feedback to improve the UI/UX and KM’s turning into a nice product. Not sure about buying upvotes on Reddit though 🤷‍♂️ But that’s up to them.

Anyway, I asked Jim if they’d like to be my affiliate and they replied with an emphatic “YES”! Hopefully, that will drive some sales for LaunchFast.

If you’d like to be my affiliate or know anyone who would enjoy it, please share this link with them. I’m offering a 50% commission.

(almost) Finished integrating subscription payments on LaunchFast

I’ve been working on integrating subscription payments into LaunchFast. The functionality is done. Check out my video about it.

But before I release this to LaunchFast’s clients, I want to add some “quality of life” code so that enabling Stripe subscriptions is as easy as adding your STRIPE_SECRET_KEY to the .env file and everything is fully functional from that point onwards - no configuration required.

I’m excited to see what my users say about it 💪😄

Meeting makers

I’ve also met Janu who came from Germany to Portugal specifically to meet makers like myself and that led to meeting Miguel and Bernardo and planning HackathonLisbon which will launch on the last weekend of November 😄

This is what happens when you get builders and makers together: stuff happens 💪😄

Next steps

I’ve decided to work on iteration cycles like this:

LaunchFast
- Improve product
- Improve landing page
- Increase (qualified) traffic
Hackathon Lisboa

I do the most important or anxiety-inducing task from each of these queues and repeat.

And that’s it for today folks, have a great rest of your weekend, and see you tomorrow 🙌😄

The Art of Crafting a Landing Page That Converts

André Casal — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 21:08:18 +0000

Hey there, I’m André – tech entrepreneur and founder of LaunchFast. If you’re new here, LaunchFast is a stack designed to help web developers speed up their project development process, from launch to scale. I’m building in public, and I’ve been sharing daily updates on my journey.

Today, I’m taking you behind the scenes of one of the toughest parts of this journey: building a landing page that actually converts visitors into customers.

The Reality Check

In the past few weeks, LaunchFast has been attracting around 40 new users a day, which adds up to about 1,500 new users a month. At first glance, this sounds great, right? The product’s clearly generating interest. But then comes the kicker: out of those users, I’ve only made 6 sales. That’s right – just 6 sales in 3 weeks.

Every single sale is a huge morale boost, but the low conversion rate is a clear sign that the landing page isn’t pulling its weight. The product’s solid – I know that. But the marketing? Well, that’s another story.

The Marketing Challenge

Here’s the thing: marketing has two jobs. First, bring qualified users to the website – not just any users, but the ones who’ll find real value in what you’re offering. Second, convert those visitors into paying customers. Simple, right? Not exactly.

I’ve come to realize that the landing page doesn’t convert customers. Users convert themselves – if the message is right, if it speaks to their needs, and if it’s clear why they should care. That’s where my focus has been for the past two weeks: dialing in the message on the landing page.

Learning to Sell (When You’re a Developer)

As a tech entrepreneur, marketing is my Achilles heel. I can build. I can code. But selling? That’s been a learning curve, and not a quick one. I promised myself I wouldn’t touch the product until I had the marketing figured out – which is why the past two weeks have been dedicated to getting this landing page right.

You might be thinking: Two weeks? Isn’t that a long time for just a landing page? Honestly, it feels like it sometimes. But learning to market takes time, especially when you’re determined to do it authentically – no sleazy sales tactics here. I want the copy to resonate with people emotionally, while still being clear, concise, and effective.

At its core, entrepreneurship boils down to two things:
• Knowing how to build.
• Knowing how to sell.

I’ve got the first part down. The second? I’m learning as I go.

My Process for Crafting the Landing Page

Let’s talk about my process, because I know you’re curious. First off, I subscribe to ChatGPT for $20 a month, and it’s become an integral part of my workflow. I split my ultrawide screen into thirds: one-third for ChatGPT, one-third for VS Code, and the last third for the browser. This setup allows me to keep everything I need in view as I work.

Now, here’s where the magic happens: I use ChatGPT to create extremely short feedback loops. I’m asking hundreds of questions a day, so I created a custom GPT specifically for LaunchFast. It knows the product, the features, and the target audience. This allows me to get faster, more relevant feedback without having to re-explain the context every time.

When interacting with ChatGPT, I find it helps to ask it to act in a specific role. For example, I’ll start with: “Act as a seasoned Conversion Rate Optimization Designer and copywriter to assist me in…” And when I’m mid-conversation, I’ll say, “Still acting as a seasoned Conversion Rate Optimization Designer and copywriter…” This keeps the responses focused and on point.

Structuring the Landing Page

The first thing I did was ask ChatGPT about the ideal structure for a landing page. Here’s the framework it suggested:

Hero section
Problem/Solution section
Features/Benefits section
Testimonials
Call-to-Action (CTA) & Pricing
FAQ (to handle objections)
Final CTA

With this structure in mind, I approached each section individually, breaking the task down into three core skills: layout, copy, and design.

Copywriting: The Iterative Process

The real work begins with the copy. For each section, I start by asking ChatGPT to draft the copy while also recommending layout and design ideas. Once I have a rough draft, I hand it off to V0 for a basic layout. Then, with some manual adjustments, I refine the design until I’m happy with the look.

But the copy? That’s where I spend most of my time.

I ask ChatGPT to rate the copy based on emotional impact, clarity, brevity, and whether it speaks the language of my audience. I also use my own judgment to make adjustments, working in an iterative process. Sometimes I zoom out to check the overall flow, other times I zoom in on a single paragraph to fine-tune the details.

Take the Problem/Solution section, for example. This part went through over 100 iterations – yes, really! At first, I focused on structuring it with a title and two columns: the pain points on the left and the solutions on the right. Then, I zoomed in on every word – title, subtitle, and paragraph – until it was just right. Finally, I zoomed out and checked the flow, tightening the copy along the way.

It’s a long process, but for someone learning marketing, it’s invaluable.

Final Thoughts

If there’s one takeaway from this experience, it’s that learning to sell is just as important as learning to build. And while it may feel like a slow grind, the payoff will come when the landing page does what it’s supposed to: convert visitors into customers.

Until then, I’m staying focused on the journey, building in public, and sharing the highs and lows along the way.

Have a great week ahead 🙌😄

How to reach a wide audience on social media

André Casal — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 00:08:52 +0000

If you're new here, I'm André, a tech entrepreneur and founder of LaunchFast, a stack designed to help web developers significantly speed up their project development time. I post daily updates on my journey and progress.

Almost every day I share my journey in public. I do this on 24 different platforms. Here's how you can do it too:

Write an article in Markdown
Open the 24 browser tabs at once
Copy and paste the article into each tab

That's it! You're done. You've reached a wide audience on social media.

Here's my marketing tab.

And here's how you can open all the websites with one click.

Keep in mind that some of those, like the Smashing Magazine, aren't meant for daily shares but for in-depth web dev article submittions. But I like to keep them there to remind me to submit them!

I do go the extra mile and use invideo.io to create a video version of the article. It's the same process: copy and paste the article and it will spit out a video for you. I then download the video from invideo.io and upload it to Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. Funny enough, the short videos get a lot of impressions (around 600 each).

"Sure André, but what did you do today? Where's the progress report?!"

Ah, right. To contexualize, I've decided to work on improving my landing page until I reach a 10%+ conversion rate, because being a tech entrepreneur, marketing has always been my Achiles heel. So here's the plan:

Improve the landing page until I reach a 10%+ conversion rate
Create a marketing strategy that I can implement in 2h/day
Improve the product
Growth hacking strategies

So here's what got done today:

Figured out what to insert on that green area of the hero for the landing page

As you know, the above the fold section of a landing page is extremely important. And the image much more so, because we process images considerably faster than text. So that visual (whether it is an image, video or an animation), needs to trigger immediate engagement and an emotional response, while reinforcing the product’s core value proposition. It's a bit of a tall order. But it's well worth the effort.

So today I've spent the entire day coming up with ideas and rating them based on that criteria and I settled on a "Commit & Push" simulation, so that web developers can feel how it is to push code to production with LaunchFast: ESLint, TypeScript, Vitest, and Playwright run and the code is deployed to production.

The difference between this visual being crappy or impactful depends on the execution and attention to details of the animation. So that's what I'm going to be doing tomorrow.

And that's it for today folks! I hope you enjoyed this one, cheers and have a great rest of your week! 👋

Improving the conversion rate 💰

André Casal — Mon, 09 Sep 2024 00:27:44 +0000

After spending a few days with my family, I’m back developing LaunchFast.

I’ve been thinking about what to do next. Here’s the plan:

Improve conversion rate
Create marketing strategy
Improve the product

As a perfectionist, I promised myself I wouldn’t touch the product until I dealt with marketing: my Achilles heel.

Improve conversion rate

I’ve been thinking about how to make my landing page better. One of the things I realized is that I shouldn’t be comparing LaunchFast with any other boilerplate. LaunchFast stands on its own.

So I’m studying high-converting landing pages and working on a new landing page to boost conversions. This is the work in progress so far:

LaunchFast gets 40 users/day. I won’t stop working on this until I get at least a 10% conversion rate.

Create marketing strategy

I’ve already created a thorough 3-step marketing strategy:

Identify Ideal Channels & Tactics
Develop Testing & Validation Framework
Scaling Successful Channels

If you’d like to create a thorough marketing strategy, use this prompt on ChatGPT:
"Act as a seasoned marketer and unconventional growth hacker to assist me in crafting a strategy for {Business Type} owners in {Location} on identifying, testing, and scaling new marketing channels and ideas to reach {Target Audience} with {Product/Service}."

Improve the product

I’m super eager to start working on the product again and delight my customers with awesome new automations and functionality. In particular:

React Email 3.0
Beautiful online video documentation 🎥✨

That’s it for now folks!

I’m building an amazing UI library for React.

André Casal — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 15:48:31 +0000

I’m building an amazing UI library for React.

I'm looking for React devs, disatisfied with the current state of UI tools, excited for this type of product, and who enjoy giving feedback on mockups and product ideas.

Here's the landing page: https://verveui.pro/

It's very early stage, so expect the number and shape of the components to change considerably.

VS Code's built-in browser

André Casal — Fri, 24 Dec 2021 09:23:58 +0000

Hey there,
Let's talk about VS Code's built-in browser.

💎 Why it matters

Integrations accelerate your work.

🔍 Problem

You waste time switching between VS Code and the browser.

💡 Solution

Open the command palette (⇧+Ctrl/⌘+P) and write Simple Browser: Show.

🎯 When should I use it?

When you don't need debugging or the browser's DevTools.

Want more?

Click here and subscribe to VS Code's Newsletter.

Thanks,
André Casal

Progress thread for SoftwareEngineeringBoss.com

André Casal — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 14:59:46 +0000

Progress for 2021-07-24/25/26.

I've been learning about agile development practices. A few of the things I've learned:
Trunk-based development is better than feature branch development
The time it takes from writing code to deploying it in production should be as short as possible (minutes with our current compute capacity)
Frequent deployment should be decoupled from frequent release using feature toggles
It's faster and better practice to shoot down infrastructure that is malfunctioning and redeploy from the source code than to fix it manually and create an ad hoc difference that the source code doesn't account for.
I'm still reading The DevOps Handbook. It's a good book.