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Created iOS Design skill, dev-start command, and build-dist skill for streamlined development

ImplementationBug FixTestingDevOpsDocumentation
10 sessions2 commits#ios-design #skills #developer-experience #testing #build-automation

Development Diary - January 15, 2026

📋Daily Summary

Focused on improving developer experience and preparing for App Store launch. Created three new Claude Code skills: /ios-design for Apple HIG-compliant UI design, /dev-start for one-command development environment setup, and /build-dist for iOS/Android distribution builds. Also ran comprehensive code review with unit tests and fixed several bugs including dynamic version display.

🕐Work Sessions

Session 1: Early Morning Bug Fixes (2:42 AM - 6:38 AM)

Focus: Regression Fixes and Documentation

Activities:

  • Updated documentation for recent changes
  • Debugged iOS simulator loading errors
  • Investigated regression in Designs page "create new design" flow
  • Fixed backend API 500 error for sticker generation

Key Issue: Designs page create flow was broken - both functionality and design regressed.

Session 2: iOS Design Skill Creation (6:10 AM - 3:55 PM)

Focus: Creating /ios-design Skill

Activities:

  • Created new skill for designing iOS app following Apple's Human Interface Guidelines
  • Referenced Settings page redesign as the gold standard
  • Applied skill to Note Edit page redesign
  • Resized UI elements for visual balance (+ button matching "+ Add Label")

Outcome: New /ios-design skill enables consistent Apple-style UI design across the app.

Session 3: Comprehensive Code Review (6:15 AM - 5:18 PM)

Focus: Quality Assurance

Activities:

  • Ran comprehensive code review for both iOS and Android apps
  • Created unit tests covering all features, functions, and links
  • Fixed identified issues from the review
  • Committed and pushed all fixes
  • Restarted all servers fresh and tested on iOS simulator

Session 4: Note Editor Polish (6:42 AM - 3:56 PM)

Focus: UI Text Updates

Activities:

  • Removed placeholder "start typing... use # to add labels" from note edit page
  • Added new placeholder "Your thoughts" for cleaner UX

Session 5: Dev Environment Automation (3:55 PM - 6:58 PM)

Focus: Creating /dev-start Skill

Activities:

  • Identified pain point: "API error" on every simulator start
  • Created /dev-start skill for one-command development setup
  • Skill kills pre-existing servers/simulators for fresh reload
  • Ensures fully functioning, ready-to-test environment

Key Prompts:

  • "Create a skill or command to get fully functioning and ready-to-test server & simulator running with one command"

Session 6: Build Distribution Skill (5:11 PM - 7:03 PM)

Focus: Creating /build-dist Skill

Activities:

  • Created skill for iOS and Android distribution builds
  • Supports TestFlight and Play Store builds
  • Integrated with EAS Build system
  • Tested /build-dist check and /build-dist android commands

Session 7: Version Display Fix (7:04 PM - 7:26 PM)

Focus: Settings Page Bug Fix

Activities:

  • Debugged version number not updating on simulator
  • Fixed hardcoded version to read dynamically from app.json
  • Added build date display capability
  • Committed and pushed the fix

Session 8: App Store Launch Planning (7:10 PM)

Focus: Monetization Preparation

Activities:

  • Inspected PRD and current Coin/Subscription implementation
  • Created detailed execution plan for App Store launch readiness

🏷️Categorized Work

Implementation

  • Created /ios-design skill for Apple HIG-compliant design
  • Created /dev-start skill for development environment automation
  • Created /build-dist skill for iOS/Android distribution builds
  • Added explicit react-native-css-interop dependency for EAS builds

Bug Fix

  • Fixed Designs page "create new design" regression
  • Fixed backend API 500 error for sticker generation
  • Fixed Settings page to display dynamic version from app.json

Testing

  • Comprehensive code review for iOS and Android apps
  • Created unit tests covering all features and functions
  • End-to-end link verification

Documentation

  • Updated documentation for recent changes
  • Documented new skills and their usage

DevOps

  • Prepared build distribution workflow
  • Fixed EAS build dependency issues

📸Screenshots

No screenshots captured for this session.

💡Insights & Learnings

Decision: Created /dev-start skill to eliminate the repeated "API error" friction when starting development. One command now handles killing stale processes and starting fresh.

Learning: Hardcoding version numbers in UI leads to confusion during testing. Always read from the source of truth (app.json).

Decision: Invested in skill creation for recurring tasks (ios-design, dev-start, build-dist) to improve long-term developer velocity.

📊Statistics

🕐
10
Sessions
📝
2
Commits
📁
3
Files Changed
➕
14
Lines Added
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4
Lines Deleted
🏷️
Implementation
Primary Category

🎯Tomorrow's Focus

  • Execute App Store launch plan for Coins and Subscriptions
  • Build and submit TestFlight version
  • Configure RevenueCat for in-app purchases
  • Test purchase flow end-to-end

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