This is the technical companion to my earlier post about building Felix, my personal bookmark manager. That post covered the why and what. This one covers the how.I’m not a developer, so these choices came from conversations with Claude Code about what would work best for a local-first personal tool.
Yesterday I built an app. My first ever, not counting some AppleScripts and HyperCard stacks back in the day. I scoped out the requirements during a 10-minute walk, dictating into my iPhone. After running errands I cleaned up the notes at my Mac, fired up Claude Code, and had a working application by evening.
The name comes from Felix the Cat and his “Magic Bag of Tricks” - classic Aussie made cartoon.
My Felix magically collects bookmarks from various sources and transforms them with AI assistance.
Late last night I installed Claude Code. Early this morning I extended my first script from the couch, before coffee. The gap between those two moments tells you something about where software coding is heading.
Claude Code is, essentially, Claude AI living in your Terminal. For those who haven’t ventured into the command line, Terminal is your Mac’s text-based interface, where you type commands instead of clicking buttons (Windows PCs have something similar). I have basic skills in Terminal (enough to navigate without breaking things) but I can’t code. Specifically, I can’t write Python, which is one of the simpler programming languages Claude Code uses to build applications. Python is popular because it’s readable and versatile, powering everything from web apps to automation scripts. I know what it does. I just can’t write it myself.
Or couldn’t. The distinction matters now.
“I asked AI to produce a summary infographic for me… I find these easier and quicker to get initial concepts.”
My friend Steve F posted this alongside a visual breakdown of Celeste Headlee’s TED Talk on better conversations. Not a link to watch later. Not a recommendation I’d forget. A compressed, scannable summary he’d created in minutes.
