Start a new project
Every website, app and dashboard in Briks starts on the New project page. It is a short setup in seven steps. Only the name and the description are required, and nothing is built or charged until you press Build it on the last step. This page walks through each step and every choice on it.
- 1Each step has its own screen. This one is Describe it, where you write the brief.
- 2Example briefs you can start from, picked for the kind of thing you are making.
- 3Optional steps, such as References and Brand, can be skipped.
- 4Next moves on (it reads Skip on an optional step you leave empty). Nothing is built until you press Build it on the last step.
Ways to open it
There are four ways in, and they all lead to the same page.
- New project under Projects in the sidebar, or the New project button at the top of the Projects list.
- The box on Home. Type a first description, choose Website, App or Dashboard under it and press Continue. Your words are waiting on the Describe it step. The line under the box tells you what a build holds and what you have, for example "A build holds 50 credits; you have 50." If building usually takes more than you have, a second line says so before you go on.
- Jump to at the top of the sidebar (⌘K on a Mac, Ctrl K elsewhere). Type
New projectand press Enter. - The prompt box on briks.dev, before you have an account. The next section explains what comes with you.
Arriving from the briks.dev home page
If you typed a description into the box on briks.dev and pressed Start building, your words come with you. The sign-up page shows them under Your brief, with the line "Your first project starts from these words. You can change them before anything is built." Once your account is ready, New project opens with those words already on the Describe it step.
The other choices in that box travel too. The tile you picked (such as Landing page or Internal tool) sets the kind of project. A site added under Add a site you like in the + menu appears on the Show what you like step. The Pick a look first switch arrives as Choose the look from three directions, already on. Up to 2,000 characters of description are carried over, so if your brief is longer, paste the rest on Describe it, which takes 25,000.
The seven steps
On a wide screen the steps run down the left as Project, Description, References, Brand, Pictures, How it is built and Review, and each finished step shows a short note of what you chose. On a phone you see Step 2 of 7 and the name of the next step instead. Click any step you have already reached to go back to it, or use Back at the bottom. The two optional steps, Show what you like and Your brand, carry an Optional tag, and their Next button reads Skip while they are empty. Below, each step goes by the heading it shows at the top.
From an idea to Build it
Choose the kind and the name
Where: What are you making?
Pick Website, App or Dashboard, then fill in Business or project name (2 to 60 characters). The name is also the start of your site's address on briks.live, which you can change later.
Write or speak the brief
Where: Describe it
Type your brief, or press the microphone (Speak your request) and talk for up to two minutes; your words appear in the box for you to edit. It needs at least ten characters and takes up to 25,000; the counter under the box shows how many you have used. Start from an example offers two sample briefs for the kind you chose, and A good description says lists what to cover.
Add a site and screenshots you admire
Where: Show what you like
Optional. One address under A site to learn from and up to six pictures under Screenshots. Briks reads how they are put together and doesn't copy them.
Set only what is already fixed
Where: Your brand
Optional. Under Brand rules: Accent colour, Light or dark, Headline face, Text face, Content width, Spacing, No gradients anywhere and Anything else that is fixed. Anything left on Designer's call or Auto is chosen for your business.
Choose how pictures are made
Where: Pictures
Default studio model is included: pictures that fit come from the studio's library, cut to size, and anything missing is drawn new. GPT Image 2.5 draws every picture new for your site, at 1 credit a picture, charged when the build finishes. See Pictures.
Decide where the build stops
Where: How it is built
Five switches decide what Briks asks you, where it waits for you and what it checks. The table below explains each one.
Check and start
Where: Review and create
Every choice is listed with an Edit button that takes you back to its step. Under the list you see the hold and your balance, and a line on what building usually takes when that is more than you have. Press Build it.
When you press Next on Describe it, Briks checks that your words describe a project. If they read as a question instead, such as How long does a first build take?, the answer appears under the box and you stay on the step with your words in place. Nothing is made, held or charged. Rewrite them as a brief and press Next again.
The three kinds
| Kind | Good for | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Website | Pages people visit: a clinic, a restaurant, a portfolio, a landing page | Every step and switch applies |
| App | Something people use rather than read, such as a booking request tool or an internal tool for your team | The same steps and switches as a website |
| Dashboard | Numbers a team keeps an eye on: sales by stage, stock to reorder | No questions before building, no words to approve, no look or hero to choose, and no pictures |
The switches under How it is built
| Switch | Starts | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Ask about what is unclear before building | On | Briks always asks which pages to build. With this on, it also asks about what your words leave open, such as bookings or prices. Not shown for dashboards. |
| Approve the words before building | Off | The words are written first, with the thinking behind them, and the build waits until you approve them or say what to change. |
| Choose the look from three directions | Off | You pick from three boards (Nordic and clean, warm, bold) and the whole site is built in that one. |
| Choose the hero from four wireframes | Off | You pick the layout of the home page's first screen from four plain grey sketches with your words in place. |
| Check the published site | Off | Once the first version is published, Briks looks at it at four screen sizes and repairs what renders broken. A few minutes more and some credits. |
The look and the hero switches disappear when they can't apply, and the step says why: "Your reference site decides the look and the hero, so there is none to choose." or "A dashboard builds straight through, with no words to approve and no look or hero to choose." If you added a site you like, Show what you like also offers Measure the build against the reference, off by default; Build from a site you like explains it. The stops for words, look and hero are covered in Approve as it builds.
What starting costs
Two choices add to the charge. GPT Image 2.5 adds its price for every picture it draws; the price shows beside the option (1 credit a picture as this is written) and the review line mentions it. Check the published site takes, in its own words, "a few minutes more and some credits". Questions before building are never charged, and a build that fails isn't charged.
When building usually takes more than you have
Briks knows what builds like yours usually cost, from the builds before it. When that is more than your balance, the review, the box on Home and the build card in the studio add one line, for example: "Building it usually takes about 85 credits after planning, and you have 30. If it needs more than you have once planned, it waits there for credits with the plan kept." When your balance covers it, the line doesn't show.
The check that counts comes after planning, once your pages are chosen. If the rest of the build then usually needs more than the build still holds plus your balance, it pauses with its plan kept and waits for you to choose Resume building. Watching a build explains the pause.
Your plan also caps how many projects a workspace holds: 1 on Free, 1 on Starter, 3 on Pro, 10 on Studio and 30 on Agency. Credits and plans has the full table.
What happens after you press Build it
The project is made
Where: Review and create
The button reads Starting the build for a moment while the credits are held and the project gets its address. The setup kept in your browser is cleared.
The studio opens
Where: Studio
You land in the project's studio. Your description is the first message in the conversation.
Questions, for websites and apps
Where: Studio
The status reads Preparing questions, then Waiting for your answers when a card asks which pages to build and anything your words left open. See Questions before building.
The build runs
Where: Studio
Briks reads your references, plans the pages, writes the words, makes the pictures, then builds and checks the site. If you switched on an approval step, it stops there for you. If the plan shows it needs more credits than you have, it waits for Resume building. The first version takes a few minutes.
The preview is published
Where: Studio
The reply says what was built and where it was published on briks.live. That preview is kept out of search results. Going live properly is a separate step: Publish to production.
If it won't start
It says my plan includes a set number of projects.
Every plan holds a set number, and the message ends "Upgrade to add more." Delete a project you no longer need, or move to a bigger plan from the upgrade box that opens, or in Billing.
It says the new project holds 50 credits and my balance is lower.
The build can't start until your balance covers the hold. Paid plans get their credits each month; Free gets 50 once. The message ends "A plan with more credits is in Billing.", and the upgrade box that opens offers the smallest plan with more credits.
I closed the tab halfway through.
Your setup is kept in this browser, so opening New project again takes you back to the step you reached with your choices in place. It isn't saved to your account, so another browser or device starts fresh.
Can I change the brief once the build has started?
Not the original. Once the site is built, you change it by typing what you want in the studio. See Making changes.