How to vibe codeBigCommerce

Prerequisites

• Node.jsfree

  Required for running the Next.js full-stack framework and managing dependencies.

• GitHubfree

  Source control and deployment pipeline integration.

AI coding tools

• Claude Code

  Agentic coding in your terminal to scaffold complex data schemas, API routes, and frontend dashboards.

• Cursor

  AI-native IDE for iterating on complex e-commerce UI components, cart management logic, and checkout forms.

Build guide

1. 01Database Schema & Project Scaffolding

   Initialize a Next.js project with TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, and Drizzle ORM connected to Neon Postgres. Define relational data models for stores, products, variants, categories, customers, and orders.

   Scaffold a new Next.js full-stack app using App Router, TypeScript, and Tailwind CSS. Configure Drizzle ORM with a Neon Postgres connection string. Write a comprehensive migration schema with tables for 'stores', 'products', 'variants', 'categories', 'customers', 'orders', and 'order_items'. Ensure proper foreign key constraints, indexes on store_id and sku, and timestamp defaults. Create a db/client.ts helper and a seed script to populate a mock store with 5 sample products and variants.

   ⧉copy promptopen in Claude CodeCopen in Codexopen in Cursor

2. 02Authentication & Store Management

   Implement authentication via better-auth and build multi-store creation flows allowing merchants to manage multiple independent catalogs.

   Integrate better-auth into the Next.js application supporting email/password registration and session handling. Build a merchant dashboard home page at /admin that lists stores owned by the current user, along with a modal to create a new store with a unique subdomain slug. Implement server actions and middleware to restrict dashboard routes to authenticated store owners.

   ⧉copy promptopen in Claude CodeCopen in Codexopen in Cursor

3. 03Product Catalog & Inventory Engine

   Build an administrative UI for creating, editing, and managing products, multi-level variants (e.g., Size/Color combinations), and stock levels.

   Build the product catalog management interface inside the merchant dashboard at /admin/products. Create views for listing products with search and pagination, a multi-step product creation form supporting physical and digital goods, pricing, SKU tracking, inventory quantities, and dynamic variant attribute options (e.g., Size, Color). Write server actions to handle CRUD operations on products and variants with validation via Zod.

   ⧉copy promptopen in Claude CodeCopen in Codexopen in Cursor

4. 04Storefront Theme & Catalog Browsing

   Develop a customer-facing storefront template rendering categories, product detail pages with variant selection, and a persistent shopping cart.

   Build a consumer storefront layout at /store/[slug] featuring a dynamic homepage, category navigation, and a product listing grid. Implement a product detail page (PDP) with interactive variant selection that updates price, availability, and SKU dynamically. Create a client-side shopping cart state using React Context and local storage, allowing shoppers to add items, update quantities, and view order subtotal summaries.

   ⧉copy promptopen in Claude CodeCopen in Codexopen in Cursor

5. 05Secure Checkout & Order Processing

   Implement a streamlined checkout flow with customer details, shipping address inputs, and Stripe payment session creation.

   Build a one-page checkout flow at /store/[slug]/checkout that collects customer shipping and billing information. Integrate Stripe Checkout or Payment Intents API via server actions to securely process transactions. Upon successful webhook verification from Stripe, update order status in the database to 'paid', decrement product inventory levels accordingly, and create an order confirmation view.

   ⧉copy promptopen in Claude CodeCopen in Codexopen in Cursor

6. 06Headless API & Developer Documentation

   Expose REST and GraphQL API endpoints for external headless clients to fetch products, manage carts, and create orders.

   Create a set of secure REST API endpoints under /api/v1/[storeId]/... protected by API bearer tokens. Implement endpoints for listing products, fetching single product details with variants, creating carts, and submitting orders. Write a basic interactive API documentation page inside the admin dashboard showing request examples and cURL commands for developers.

   ⧉copy promptopen in Claude CodeCopen in Codexopen in Cursor

Cost vs paying for BigCommerce