I Built This Site in a Weekend With AI. Here's What Actually Happened.
The origin story of Punk Records — what I set out to build, what the AI Satellites got right, what they got wrong, and what I'd do differently.
The short version
I used Claude to build this entire site over a weekend. It handled all the code; I handled the decisions. The result shipped. The process was messier than I expected — and more interesting.
I needed a home base.
Not a portfolio with a polished hero image and a contact form — something that actually showed how I work. A public record of every project I build with AI: the decisions, the failures, and the things that shipped.
I called it Punk Records. The name comes from One Piece. In the story, the scientist Vegapunk stores all his knowledge in a system called Punk Records and works through a team of specialized assistants — his Satellites. He directs; they execute. That’s how I work with AI tools.
How I Built It
My primary Satellite for this build was Edison — Claude, acting as the code writer.
My job was decisions. Claude’s job was execution.
The stack: Astro for the framework (built for content sites), Tailwind CSS for styling, Vercel for hosting, and plain Markdown files for content — no CMS, no database.
I gave Claude the direction and constraints. It built. I reviewed, pushed back when something felt wrong, redirected. Repeat until done.
What Worked
Adding new content is dead simple. Drop a Markdown file into a folder — it appears in the feed automatically, with the right metadata and formatting. No CMS to log in to.
Being specific about the design direction helped. I knew what I didn’t want (a generic dark portfolio template) and had a rough sense of what I did want: a builder’s workspace — functional, a little raw. That clarity was enough for Claude to work with.
What Broke
The first version looked like every other dark-mode dev site on the internet.
The code was correct. The layout worked. But it had no personality.
I underestimated how much iteration the design would need. Claude always gives you the most common interpretation of your brief. Getting something that feels genuinely specific requires more specific feedback — not “this doesn’t look right” but “the spacing here is too tight and the heading feels too timid.”
I also built the projects page before I had any projects.
An elaborate grid with status badges, tech stack tags, and demo links — for an empty list. The structure exists now. The projects will fill it in.
What I Learned
Specific feedback beats vague feedback — every single time. Describe the problem precisely and you get a precise fix.
Ship the container first. Waiting for content before building the structure is the wrong order.
The decisions are still yours. The Satellite handles execution fast — but it doesn’t know what you’re trying to communicate or who you’re trying to reach. If you don’t have clear answers before you start, the Satellite fills in the gaps with the most average possible interpretation.
What’s Next
- Custom domain live at thepunkrecords.com
- Social sharing images for each post
- Search across all Satellite Logs
Key Takeaways
- Ship the container first. Waiting for content before you build the structure gets the order backwards — empty pages with good scaffolding beat a half-built page with perfect copy.
- Specific feedback compounds. “The spacing here is too tight” ships a fix. “This doesn’t look right” ships another generic dark-mode template.
- AI writes; you decide. The Satellite handles execution at speed, but it doesn’t know who you’re trying to reach. Show up with clear answers or the AI will fill gaps with the most average possible version.
Satellite: Edison (build) · Morgans (this post)