How to vibe codeLimeSurvey

Prerequisites

• Node.jsfree

  Required runtime for building and running the Next.js application.

• GitHubfree

  Version control and seamless deployment integration.

AI coding tools

• Claude Code

  Best-in-class multi-file agentic coding tool for scaffolding complex app logic, AST evaluators, and relational database schemas.

• Cursor

  AI-native code editor ideal for iterative UI work on the survey admin dashboard and respondent view.

Build guide

1. 01Project Scaffolding & Database Schema

   Initialize the Next.js application, configure Tailwind CSS, set up better-auth, and define the complete Postgres database schema for surveys, question groups, questions, answer options, tokens, and responses.

   Initialize a new Next.js project using the App Router with TypeScript and Tailwind CSS. Configure a Prisma or Drizzle schema connected to a Neon PostgreSQL database. Define the core relational models: Users, Surveys, QuestionGroups, Questions (with question type enums like text, radio, dropdown, matrix), Answers, SurveyTokens (for invite-only tracking), and Responses (storing JSON payload of submitted answers along with participant metadata and completion timestamps). Implement better-auth for administrative login. Verify the setup with clean TypeScript types and database migration files.

   ⧉copy promptopen in Claude CodeCopen in Codexopen in Cursor

2. 02Survey Admin Builder UI

   Build the survey creation dashboard allowing administrators to structure questionnaires into groups and add various question types with drag-and-drop or ordered reordering.

   Build a comprehensive admin dashboard in Next.js for managing surveys. Create views to list surveys, create a new survey with title and description, and manage the survey structure by adding Question Groups and individual Questions. Support multiple question types: Short Free Text, Long Text, Multiple Choice, List (Dropdown/Radio), and Array (Matrix). Implement form state management using React Hook Form and Zod validation. Ensure UI components look polished and responsive using Tailwind CSS and Lucide icons.

   ⧉copy promptopen in Claude CodeCopen in Codexopen in Cursor

3. 03Expression Manager & Conditional Logic Engine

   Implement a robust expression evaluation engine capable of parsing relevance equations, skip logic, and dynamic piping across survey questions.

   Implement a custom expression evaluation engine in TypeScript that mimics LimeSurvey's Expression Manager subset. Create an AST parser or safe evaluation utility that can parse and compute conditional relevance equations (e.g., Q1 == 'Y' and Q2 > 10) and mathematical piping strings embedded in question text. Integrate this engine into both the survey builder (to validate logic syntax) and the respondent execution flow so questions dynamically show, hide, or update as answers change in real-time.

   ⧉copy promptopen in Claude CodeCopen in Codexopen in Cursor

4. 04Respondent Survey Runner View

   Build the public-facing survey execution interface that guides participants through questions page-by-page or group-by-group while enforcing conditional logic and saving partial progress.

   Build a clean, distraction-free respondent survey runner interface accessible via public survey slugs or unique token URLs. Implement group-by-group pagination where participants advance or go back. Integrate the conditional logic engine built in Step 3 so questions appear or disappear dynamically based on previous inputs. Handle state persistence so partial responses are saved to the database on each step transition, allowing participants to resume later if tokens are used.

   ⧉copy promptopen in Claude CodeCopen in Codexopen in Cursor

5. 05Response Dashboard & Data Export

   Create administrative analytics views for reviewing collected survey results and exporting data into structured formats like CSV and statistical files.

   Build an administrative response analysis section displaying response summaries, completion rates, and individual response rows in a searchable table. Implement robust data export routes that generate clean CSV files with properly formatted column headers matching question codes. Add basic R syntax or data mapping headers to aid researchers in importing the CSV directly into analytical tools.

   ⧉copy promptopen in Claude CodeCopen in Codexopen in Cursor

Cost vs paying for LimeSurvey