https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMgNj36QHJg
Participating in a hackathon as a non-technical beginner can feel like being invited to a high-speed race without a car. You have the vision, but the "building" part feels like an insurmountable wall of code.
The truth is, you don’t need to be a coder to win. With full-stack no-code platforms like Momen, building a functional AI application is no longer about writing lines of code—it's about defining logic and user experience.
This guide will show you how to turn that vision into a working reality with Momen.
What You’re Building Today: The AI Image Transformer
To see this in action, imagine you are building a Magic Art Studio. In this app:
A user uploads a regular photo (like a selfie or a pet).
They choose a "vibe" (like Porcelain Statue, 3D Clay, or Bioluminescent).
The AI processes it and delivers a high-quality artistic transformation.
The app "remembers" every creation so the user can see their gallery later.
This guide will show you how to turn that vision into a working reality using "vibe coding"—a process where you provide the vision, and AI handles the technical "syntax."
Phase 1: Refining Your Vision (The Blueprint)
The biggest mistake beginners make is jumping straight into design before "distilling" the idea. If you don't define what the app actually does before you start building, you’ll likely get lost in the middle of the process.
Step 1: Distilling the Requirements
Before you touch the editor, you need a structured plan. To make this easy, you can use the Requirement Analyzer (a tool actually built on Momen). You simply type in your rough idea, and it turns your prompt into a professional project outline.
Step 2: Define Your "User Stories"
A User Story is a simple way to describe a feature from the user's perspective. It helps you stay focused on what is actually necessary.
- Example: "As a user, I want to upload an image so that the AI can transform it into a 3D clay model style."
Step 3: Map Your Pages
For your first build or a hackathon project, keep it lean. You usually only need two screens:
The Workspace: Where the user uploads their photo and selects a style.
The Gallery: Where the user can view their past results.
Why it matters: Clarifying your vision prevents "scope creep"—the common trap of adding "just one more feature" until you run out of time and never actually launch.
Phase 2: Building the "Brain" (The Database)
Once you know what the app does, it needs a place to store information. In software, the database is the core. It’s where your app "remembers" user profiles, selected styles, and image history.
Plain English: Think of a Table like a tab in an Excel spreadsheet. One tab stores user emails, another stores the images they’ve created, and another stores the "prompts" the AI uses.
How to configure in the Momen Editor:
Open the AI Copilot: Look for the chat icon in the bottom-left of the Momen editor.
The Prompt: Paste your user stories into the chat.
- _Example:_ "Build a database that supports users uploading photos, selecting styles, and saving their history."
- Apply the Schema: The AI will generate a Schema (a blueprint). Click "Apply" to automatically create tables like
User,Styles, andHistory.
Resources:
Phase 3: Setting Up AI Agents
Now that your app has a "memory" (the database), it needs a "worker." An AI Agent is the part of your app that performs specific tasks, like generating text or transforming images.
Beginner Tip: Don't worry about the math or algorithms. Think of the agent as a specialized employee who takes an input (your photo) and delivers a result (the art).
How to configure in the Editor:
Create Agent: Go to the AI section in the sidebar and click "New Agent".
Select Model: Choose your "Engine." For high-quality image work, select Gemini Pro Image Preview.
Define Inputs: Click "Add Input" and create two:
input_image(Type: Image) andstyle_prompt(Type: Text).Test It: Use the "Debug" button. Upload a photo, type "Porcelain statue," and see if the AI delivers.
Resources:
Phase 4: Automating with Action Flows
You have a database and an AI worker, but they need to be connected. This is done through Action Flows. An Action Flow is a multi-step recipe that runs on the backend (the server). This ensures the process won't break if a user closes their browser while the AI is still "thinking."
How to configure the "Edit" Flow:
Create Flow: In the Action tab, name a new flow
TransformImage.Step 1 (Get Account): Add a node for "Get Account Info" so the app knows who is logged in.
Step 2 (Fetch Style): Add a node to grab the specific style the user selected from the database.
Step 3 (Call AI): Add a node for your AI Agent. Link the inputs to the image and style from the previous steps.
Step 4 (Save Result): Add a node to "Create Record" in your
Historytable. This saves the AI's output back to the database automatically.
Resources:
Phase 5: Creating and Binding the UI
The UI (User Interface) is the "face" of your app—the buttons and screens people see. "Binding" is simply connecting your visual buttons to the logic you built in Phase 4.
How to configure:
The Components: Drag an Image Picker (for uploads) and a Select/Dropdown (to pull styles from your database) onto your canvas.
The Button: Add a button labeled "Generate Magic."
The Connection: Select the button, go to the Events tab (lightning bolt icon), and set "On Click" to trigger your
TransformImageAction Flow.The Mirror Tool: Use the Mirror icon in the top right to test in real-time. If you change a button's color in the editor, it updates instantly on your phone!
Phase 6: Pro Level—Vibe Coding
Here we used Google AI Studio
If you want to win "Best Design" but lack professional design skills, you can download your Momen Project Schema. Give this file to an external AI (like Cursor or Lovable). Because the AI now understands your Momen backend, it can write custom front-end code that plugs perfectly into your app.
Tutorial:
Building frontend with Cursor: https://github.com/momen-tech-org/momen-cursor-rules
Building frontend with Lovable: https://github.com/momen-tech-org/momen-lovable-integration
Master the Build: Your Journey Starts Here
Building a product in 48 hours isn't about being a coding genius; it's about being a resourceful architect. By using Momen, you've bypassed the weeks of frustration usually required to set up servers and infrastructure.
What you’ve achieved:
Refined a raw idea into structured User Stories.
Built a Database and AI Agents using natural language.
Automated complex logic with Action Flows.
Ready to show off your work?
Now that you've got the basics down, the sky is the limit. Head over to Momen.app to start your project. If you are a student or a teacher, you can unlock more possibilities at Momen Education.
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