Objective
Your mission
Reflect on your capstone experience, rate yourself on the 10 habits, and prepare your portfolio piece. Output: reflection.md.
You need: A deployed capstone project (from Lesson 04).
Time: 25 minutes.
Step 1: review the 10 habits (5 min)
The beginning, not the end
This course taught you habits, not just tools. The tools will change — Cursor will add features, Lovable will update, new tools will appear. But the habits work with any tool. You're not a Cursor user or a Lovable user — you're a vibe coder with review habits. Those habits transfer to every tool, every project, every language.
Throughout this course, you've built 10 habits:
- Predict before reveal — Before reading AI code, predict what it should look like (Phase 4)
- Read error messages — Don't panic at red text. Identify type and understand message (Phase 4)
- The AI debugging loop — Paste with context, diagnose, fix, verify (Phase 4)
- The 3-round rule — Round 4+ of corrections → start fresh (Phase 4)
- Write upfront context — Project goal, stack, features, data model, design before prompting (Phase 5)
- Use context files —
AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, or your tool's equivalent (Phase 5) - Review for red flags — Hardcoded secrets, swallowed errors, disabled security, commented-out auth (Phase 3)
- Run checklists — Pre-deployment (10 points) and security (7 points) (Phases 7, 8)
- Verify AI claims — If AI says "RLS enabled," check. Trust but verify (Phase 3)
- Make the ship/no-ship call — Red lights = no ship. Yellow = caution. Green = ship (Phase 8)
Step 2: rate yourself on each habit (5 min)
Write in your file:
## Habit Self-Assessment (1-5 scale)
1. Predict before reveal: [1-5] — [note on how you applied it]
2. Read error messages: [1-5] — [note]
3. AI debugging loop: [1-5] — [note]
4. 3-round rule: [1-5] — [note]
5. Write upfront context: [1-5] — [note]
6. Use context files: [1-5] — [note]
7. Review for red flags: [1-5] — [note]
8. Run checklists: [1-5] — [note]
9. Verify AI claims: [1-5] — [note]
10. Ship/no-ship call: [1-5] — [note]
Habits to prioritize in next project: [list the lowest-rated ones]
Step 3: reflect on your capstone (10 min)
Write in your file:
## Capstone Reflection
### What took longer than expected?
[2-3 sentences with specific examples]
### What would you do differently?
[2-3 sentences with specific examples]
### What habit made the biggest difference?
[Name the habit and explain why — with a specific example]
### What habit did you skip and regret?
[Name the habit and explain what happened when you skipped it]
Step 4: prepare your portfolio (5 min)
Your capstone project is your first portfolio piece. Present it well.
Write in your file:
## Portfolio
### Live URL
[paste URL]
### GitHub Repo
[paste URL]
### Description
[2-3 sentences — what it does, what you used, what you learned]
### Screenshot/Screen Recording
Taken: [yes/no]
README for your GitHub repo:
# [Project Name]
[1 sentence description]
## Features
- [feature 1]
- [feature 2]
- [feature 3]
## Tech Stack
- Frontend: [stack]
- Backend: [stack]
- Deployment: [platform]
## What I Learned
- [reflection 1]
- [reflection 2]
Add this README to your GitHub repo.
Step 5: choose your next project (3 min)
Level 1 (similar complexity):
- Expense tracker with categories and monthly summary
- Reading list with reading status and ratings
- Workout logger with exercises and sets
Level 2 (more complex):
- Recipe app with search, tags, and favorites
- Budget tracker with charts and recurring transactions
- Task manager with projects, priorities, and due dates
Level 3 (advanced):
- Multi-user blog platform
- Booking/scheduling app
- Marketplace with Stripe payments
Write in your file:
## Next Project
Project: [name]
Why: [1-2 sentences — what you want to learn, what you want to use]
Level: [1/2/3]
Lovable changes its interface and a new tool tops the charts next month. What from this course still applies?
Predicting, red-flag review, verifying claims, managing context and running checklists work with whatever tool comes next.