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Building a Full-Stack AI Trip Planner with Momen and Cursor: A Step-by-Step Guide

#nocode #ai #webdev

Watch the live building demo on Youtube

Cursor is amazing.

If you already know how to code, it feels like magic: you describe what you want, and Cursor generates clean React components, API calls, and even complex logic.

But if you don’t have a technical background, there’s often a moment of confusion:

“This looks great… but where is my data stored?”
“Who is handling authentication?”
“What actually happens when the AI generates something?”

If you’re comfortable with code, Cursor can generate servers, APIs, database logic, and complex workflows just fine. However, for people who don’t know code, frontend is visual but backend is invisible. You can see pages, buttons, layouts, and flows immediately. Data models, authentication, AI workflows, and payments all happen behind the scenes.

That’s where using a visual, no-code backend like Momen makes a big difference.

Momen makes the “invisible” parts of an app visible — databases, logic, AI flows, and payments — so non-technical builders can understand what exists behind the UI, while Cursor continues to generate high-quality code on top of it.

In this tutorial, we’ll walk through how to build a production-ready AI Trip Planner using:

  • Cursor as your AI-powered code editor (for the frontend)

  • Momen as your no-code backend (for everything behind the scenes)

You don’t need to understand backend code. You just need to understand what pieces exist and how they connect.

The tutorial: https://github.com/momen-tech-org/momen-cursor-rules

Why Momen Is a Great No-Code Backend for Cursor

Momen is a next-generation full-stack no-code platform, but its backend is designed to be used independently as a Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS). It lets you see and manage everything behind the app, without writing backend code.

You can visually set up:

  • Your data (like trips, users, and orders)

  • Your app logic (what happens step by step)

  • AI features

  • Payments and user accounts

Then Cursor builds a custom frontend on top of that structure.

In simple terms:

  • Momen handles what’s behind the scenes

  • Cursor handles what users see and interact with

Because the backend is clearly defined, Cursor doesn’t have to guess — it builds with confidence.

For non-technical builders, this turns the backend from a “black box” into something you can actually understand and trust.

What We’re Going to Build

We’ll build an AI Trip Planner where users can:

  • Sign up and log in

  • Enter a destination, budget, and trip length

  • Use AI to generate a day-by-day itinerary

  • Spend credits (purchased via Stripe)

  • View saved trips and details

Momen will handle all backend logic.
Cursor will generate the frontend UI.

Step 1: Design the Data in Momen

Every app starts with data.

In Momen, you visually define your database tables and relationships:

  • Trip
    Stores destination, start date, budget, and owner

  • Itinerary Day
    Each trip has multiple days

  • Activities / Meals
    Each day contains multiple activities or restaurant suggestions

  • Account / Orders
    Tracks user credits and Stripe payment history

You don’t write SQL.
You don’t write migrations.
You just describe how the data relates.

Step 2: Set Up the AI Agent (Structured, Not Just Text)

To make the trip planner usable, the AI needs to return structured data, not a paragraph.

In Momen:

  • Create an AI prompt template that accepts:

    • destination

    • duration

    • budget

  • Import third-party APIs (like Google Places) so the AI can reference real locations

  • Define the output format as structured JSON

This allows Momen to automatically save the AI’s output into your database tables.

Step 3: Create Backend Action Flows

Action flows define what actually happens when a user clicks “Generate Trip”.

For this app, the flow:

  1. Checks and deducts user credits

  2. Triggers the AI agent

  3. Loops through the AI output

  4. Saves each day and activity into the database

  5. Triggers a secondary AI agent to generate cover images

This logic lives entirely in the backend—where it belongs.

Cursor doesn’t need to recreate this logic.
It simply calls one action.

Step 4: Let Cursor Understand Your Backend

Now we connect everything to Cursor.

You’ll:

  • Add the Momen MCP server to Cursor settings

  • Add the Momen Cursor Rules to your project

  • Open your project in Cursor and provide AI with your Momen details to start vibing your frontend.

The rules teaches Cursor:

  • How your database is structured

  • How to call Momen’s GraphQL APIs

  • How authentication and action flows work

From this point on, Cursor is no longer guessing.

Step 5: Ask Cursor to Build the Frontend

Now comes the fun part.

You can prompt Cursor with something like:

Build an AI Trip Planner using the Momen backend for Project [ID].
Use React + Vite.
Include login, a trip dashboard, and a trip generation form.

Cursor will:

  • Implement authentication correctly

  • Fetch and display trips

  • Trigger backend action flows

  • Integrate Stripe checkout using your publishable key

You get a working UI in minutes.

Step 6: Polish and Debug with AI

AI-generated code usually needs light refinement:

  • Ensure Tailwind is correctly configured

  • Adjust time zones for trip schedules

  • Add empty states for incomplete AI output

Cursor is excellent at fixing these details once you describe the issue.

What This Approach Gives You

By combining Cursor + Momen, you get:

  • AI-generated frontend code

  • A real backend you don’t have to code

  • Clear separation between UI and logic

  • An app that can scale beyond a demo

You’re not locked into templates.
You’re building a real product.

Where to Go Next

  • Add user preferences (e.g. family-friendly, budget travel)

  • Expand the AI agent with more tools

  • Deploy the frontend on Vercel or Netlify

  • Keep iterating—without rebuilding your backend

Final Thought

Cursor makes building feel possible in a way it never did before.
If you can explain your idea clearly, you can already start turning it into something real.

What usually separates a quick demo from a real product is how the “behind the scenes” parts are handled — data, logic, AI flows, and payments. For many non-technical builders, having those parts visible and structured makes it much easier to keep building in public and iterating with confidence.

Momen is one way to support that journey. It gives your ideas a real backend to grow on, while Cursor helps you move fast on the frontend. It’s not the only way — just a practical one if you want to go from idea to something real, sooner.

If you’re curious, try building something small.
Share it. Improve it. Break it. Repeat.

And if you want a backend that stays out of your way while you do that, you can explore Momen+Cursor here: https://github.com/momen-tech-org/momen-cursor-rules

Explore Momen: https://momen.app/

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