ellivate.ai

Quickstart

Build your first tool

Open Ellivate. Tap New tool. Describe what you want. The first version of your tool appears with a real URL you can share. Tweak it later by describing the change in English — no code, no terminal, no IDE.

Who this is for

You have an idea — a grocery list shared with your roommate, a reading log for your book club, a tip tracker for your shifts, a chore wheel for the kids. You don't know how to code, and you don't want to learn. You want the tool to exist.

That's this path. You describe what you want; Ellivate builds it; you iterate by describing changes. The first version of your tool lives at a real URL within a few minutes. You can share it with anyone the same way you share a Google Doc.

Before you start

  • An Ellivate account. Sign up at app.ellivate.ai. Free tier is enough for your first tool.
  • A clear-ish idea. “A grocery list my partner and I can both add to” works. “An app, idk” doesn't.

1. Open Ellivate

Two ways in:

  • Web — sign in to app.ellivate.ai in any browser. Best for typing longer descriptions and seeing the result on a big screen.
  • Mobile — install the Ellivate app on your phone (currently TestFlight on iOS). Best for quick edits when you're away from a computer, and the natural place to use the tools you build.

2. Describe your tool

Tap New tool. A box appears asking what you want to build. The more concrete you are, the better the first version will be. Some examples:

A grocery list my partner and I can both add to from our phones. Items have a name and an optional note. Tapping an item crosses it off. Show crossed-off items at the bottom.
A reading log. Each entry has a book title, author, the date I finished it, and a 1-5 star rating. Show the list newest-first. Add a search box at the top.
A tip tracker for my restaurant shifts. Every shift has a date, hours worked, and tips earned. Show the weekly total at the top.

Don't worry about getting it perfect — anything you forget you can add later by describing the change.

Submit. Ellivate spends a minute or two building the first version. You'll see status updates as it goes.

3. Open your tool

When the build finishes you get a vanity URL like you.ellivate.ai/grocery. Tap to open. The tool runs inside the Ellivate shell — same as it'll appear to anyone you share with.

Try it. Add a few items. Cross some off. See if it does what you wanted.

4. Tweak it with English

Something off? On the tool's detail screen there's an Edit with AI box. Describe the change you want:

Add a category field — produce, dairy, snacks, other. Group the list by category.
The cross-off should make the text gray, not strikethrough.
When my partner adds an item, send me a push notification.

Submit. A minute later your tool republishes with the change applied. The URL stays the same; the data you already entered stays put.

See the AI editing page for what the assistant can and can't do.

5. Share it

Open the tool's detail screen and tap Share. Two options:

  • Invite specific people by email. Best for household / friend-group / team tools. Recipients who don't have an Ellivate account get an invite link that signs them up.
  • Make it public. Anyone with the URL can open it. Best for things you'd be fine showing on your profile.

You can change either of these later. See Sharing & invites for the full picture.

What if I want to look at the code?

You can. Every tool you build keeps its source on Ellivate's servers, and the dashboard shows you what code the AI wrote. Most non-technical users never look — there's no need. But if you grow into wanting to understand or hand-edit, it's there.

If you've already been writing code with an AI tool (Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf) and want to bring an existing project to Ellivate instead of starting from a prompt, see Bring your code.

What's next