![Cover image for [Vibe-Coded] HangOut: A Safer Way for Kids to Plan Hangouts](https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=1000,height=420,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fqi3n3l8s7or5dehahudy.png)
Over the course of a few days, I built HangOut, a web application that helps kids plan hangouts with their friends while giving parents a simple way to approve them. Instead of relying on multiple group chats and text messages, everything is organized in one place where both kids and parents know exactly what's going on.
The entire application started from a detailed prompt in Bolt, and from there I continued improving features through multiple iterations.
The Problem HangOut Solves
As kids get older, they start making plans with their friends more often. However, those plans don't always happen because getting permission from everyone's parents can take a long time. Sometimes one parent never sees the message, another responds hours later, and someone ends up canceling because approval came too late.
Planning also happens across different apps. Some friends use iMessage, others use WhatsApp, Google Chat, Snapchat, or Instagram. Parents are often left out completely or have to ask multiple questions just to figure out what is going on.
I wanted to create one place where kids could organize their plans while parents stayed informed without constantly asking for updates.
About HangOut
HangOut is a role-based planning platform with three different roles:
- Kids
- Parents
- Admins
Kids can create a hangout by entering the event name, location, date, time, description, and a list of items everyone should bring.
They can invite friends through email or a shareable invite link. Once a friend accepts the invitation, their linked parent automatically becomes a viewer of the event.
Parents receive approval requests whenever their child creates or joins a hangout. They can see where the event is taking place, when it starts, who is attending, and any updates made by the organizer.
If a parent declines permission, that child is automatically removed from the event and can no longer participate in the group chat.
Each hangout also includes its own group chat so conversations stay organized instead of getting buried in unrelated messages.
Tech Stack
The application was built using:
- Lovable
- Next.js (App Router)
- TypeScript
- React
- Tailwind CSS
- shadcn/ui
- lucide-react
- lovable Database for authentication and data storage
- Sonner for notifications
- Netlify for deployment
- Perfai
Lovable handled most of the initial project generation, while I continued refining the workflows and user experience.
The Initial Prompt & Iteration
I started by describing the overall idea, the different user roles, and how kids and parents should interact with the application.
lovable generated the foundation of the app, including the landing page, authentication pages, and much of the overall design. From there, I continued improving the project by asking Lovable to add new pages, connect workflows, and improve navigation.
One of the biggest improvements was changing the login flow so users would be redirected to a personalized dashboard instead of returning to the landing page after signing in.
As I kept testing the app, I thought of additional features that made the experience feel more realistic, such as automatically linking parents to their child's hangouts and creating dedicated dashboards for different users.
Challenges I Faced
Like any AI-generated project, the first version wasn't perfect.
One issue I ran into was that after logging in, users were taken back to the homepage instead of their dashboard. This made the app feel unfinished, so I had to work with lovable to redesign the authentication flow and create a proper dashboard experience.
Another challenge was making sure permissions worked correctly. Kids should only be able to edit their own hangouts, while parents should only be able to view and approve invitations. Keeping those permissions consistent across different parts of the app required several rounds of testing and iteration.
I also had to carefully describe new features to lovable instead of assuming it would know exactly what I wanted. Being specific with prompts made a huge difference in the quality of the generated application.
Security
Publishing an app doesn't automatically mean it's secure. Since HangOut stores user accounts, parent-child connections, event details, and permissions, I wanted to make sure users could only access the information they were supposed to.
After publishing the app, I used PerfAI Security to scan the live application for vulnerabilities. The scan found several issues that weren't obvious during normal testing. After fixing those problems, I ran another scan to confirm the improvements. This reminded me that building an app is only part of the process—making sure it's secure is just as important before sharing it with real users.
App Results
By the end of the project, HangOut had become a functional prototype.
Users could create accounts, log in, create hangouts, invite friends, and organize event details in one place. Parents could monitor plans and approve or decline invitations, giving kids more independence while still keeping families informed.
The application also featured responsive layouts, modern UI components, organized dashboards, and separate experiences for different user roles.
Final Takeaway
Bolt made it possible to turn an idea into a working application much faster than building everything manually. Instead of spending days writing every component from scratch, I was able to focus more on improving the user experience and solving the actual problem.
At the same time, I learned that AI doesn't automatically build a finished product. Features often needed refinement, workflows had to be connected, and permissions required careful testing before everything worked together.
Overall, HangOut showed me that AI is a powerful tool for speeding up development, but building a polished application still depends on thoughtful planning, testing, and iteration.
Top comments (3)
I appreciated how you leveraged Lovable to generate the foundation of HangOut, and then iteratively refined the workflows and user experience to create a seamless planning platform for kids and parents. The role-based access control, with kids, parents, and admins, is particularly noteworthy, as it ensures that everyone has a clear understanding of their responsibilities and permissions. I'm curious to know more about how you handled the group chat functionality, specifically how you managed to keep conversations organized and prevent them from getting buried in unrelated messages - were there any specific design decisions or trade-offs you made to achieve this?
Thank you so much for your feedback! To answer your question, I would say that the conversations could be organized and on topic by having a feature that allows people to pin updates, polls, or sudden reminders.
Thanks, Zainab! That’s a great idea. Features like pinned updates, polls, and reminders can make group conversations much more structured, especially when multiple people are coordinating plans and important details.
I also really like your approach of combining AI-assisted development with careful iteration, testing, and security validation. HangOut is a good example of how AI can accelerate building products while the developer still needs to focus on architecture, user experience, and protecting user data.
I’d love to stay connected and exchange ideas around AI-powered applications, secure product development, and modern web platforms. If you have any upcoming projects or areas where you’re looking for collaboration, I’d be happy to explore how we can work together.