10 Best Practices for Bolt.new Development

After building hundreds of applications with bolt.new, we've identified the key practices that separate successful projects from struggling ones. Follow these 10 best practices to maximize your productivity and build better applications.

1. Write Clear, Specific Prompts

The quality of your output directly correlates with the clarity of your input. Instead of vague requests like "make a website," provide detailed specifications: "Create a landing page with a hero section featuring a headline, subheadline, CTA button, a three-column features section, testimonials carousel, and contact form."

2. Iterate Incrementally

Make changes in small, focused iterations rather than requesting massive overhauls. This approach allows you to maintain control over the project direction and makes it easier to identify and fix issues. Build your application layer by layer, testing each addition before moving forward.

3. Understand the Generated Code

Don't treat bolt.new as a black box. Review the generated code to understand the patterns, structure, and technologies being used. This knowledge helps you make better requests and enables you to maintain and extend the application effectively.

4. Leverage Modern Frameworks

Bolt.new excels with modern frameworks like Next.js, React, and Tailwind CSS. Specify these technologies in your prompts to ensure you're building with industry-standard tools that offer excellent performance, SEO capabilities, and developer experience.

5. Plan Your Architecture First

Before diving into development, outline your application's structure, key features, and user flows. This planning phase helps you create more effective prompts and ensures all components work together cohesively. Consider data models, page hierarchy, and integration requirements upfront.

6. Test Thoroughly Before Deployment

While bolt.new generates functional code, always test your application comprehensively before deploying to production. Check responsive design across devices, test all interactive elements, verify form submissions, and ensure proper error handling throughout the application.

7. Optimize for Performance

Request performance optimizations explicitly. Ask for image optimization, lazy loading, code splitting, and efficient data fetching patterns. Bolt.new can implement these best practices when prompted, ensuring your application loads quickly and provides an excellent user experience.

8. Implement Proper SEO

For public-facing applications, specify SEO requirements in your prompts. Request proper meta tags, semantic HTML structure, optimized headings, alt text for images, and structured data. These elements are crucial for search engine visibility and should be built in from the start.

9. Use Version Control

Export your code to GitHub regularly to maintain version history. This practice allows you to track changes, revert to previous versions if needed, and collaborate with team members effectively. Version control is essential for any serious development project.

10. Know When to Get Expert Help

While bolt.new is powerful, complex applications may benefit from expert guidance. If you're building a production application with specific requirements, security concerns, or integration needs, consider working with experienced bolt.new developers who can ensure best practices and optimal implementation.

Conclusion

Following these best practices will significantly improve your bolt.new development experience and results. Remember that bolt.new is a tool that amplifies your capabilities—the better your inputs and understanding, the better your outputs will be.