My background is Linux systems, I am not a developer. I wanted a service that converts Spotify/Apple Music/YouTube links into universal ones. That meant a FastAPI backend, Next.js frontend, and React Native apps. Three codebases in tech I'd never used.

I used Claude to write the application code while I handled infrastructure (Docker, nginx, CI/CD, monitoring). The biggest lesson wasn't about AI generating code, it was about context management. A steering doc and a living todo.md turned the AI from a forgetful assistant into a consistent collaborator.

Total cost including Apple Developer fee, hosting, and a test Android phone: ~£410. Blog post covers the full breakdown, what it would cost without AI, and the "black box fear" of running code you didn't write.