The most common reason people struggle with AI coding tools isn't the technology — it's starting without a clear idea of what they're building. Antigravity changes the equation: a well-written 500-word product requirements document (PRD) can get you from concept to working app in under an hour.
This guide walks through the PRD-first workflow that experienced Antigravity users have settled on — covering how to write a minimal but effective PRD, how to feed it to Antigravity, and what to expect at each stage of the process.
Why PRD-First Works
AI coding tools perform dramatically better when they have a clear goal upfront. "Make a to-do app" produces a generic result. A PRD that specifies who the user is, what problem it solves, and what the core interactions look like gives Antigravity enough context to make real architectural decisions — not just fill in a template.
The other reason PRD-first works is that Antigravity handles long context well. A detailed initial prompt pays off in fewer correction cycles later. Five minutes of upfront writing can save thirty minutes of back-and-forth.
The Five Elements of a Minimal Effective PRD
You don't need a formal document. Five elements in plain prose or bullet points are enough.
1. Purpose and context — One or two sentences on what the app does and why. Be specific: "A simple web app for freelancers to create and send invoices from a single screen" is far more useful than "an app to manage billing."
2. Target user — Who will actually use this? Technical background, device preference (mobile or desktop), and when/where they'll use it all help. A sentence or two is plenty.
3. Core feature list — The three to seven things the MVP must do. This is the most important element. Don't aim for completeness — aim for the minimum that makes the app worth using.
4. Screen structure — A rough sense of what screens exist and how they connect. "Home, detail view, settings" plus a one-sentence description of each is enough. You're giving Antigravity a navigation map, not a wireframe.
5. Technical preferences — React Native, web only, dark mode support, a specific API to integrate — whatever constraints you know. Leave this blank if you don't have any. Antigravity will make reasonable choices.
Handing the PRD to Antigravity
Open a new project in Antigravity (antigravity.ai) and paste the entire PRD into your first message. A simple prefix like "Build this app from the following PRD:" works fine. No need to frame it more elaborately than that.
After the first output, resist the urge to immediately start correcting. Antigravity uses your initial prompt as the foundation for all architectural decisions. Before giving feedback, take a moment to understand what it chose and why. Then give focused, specific corrections rather than restarting.
If you want to understand Antigravity's choices, just ask: "Walk me through the architecture you chose and why." It explains its reasoning clearly, which helps you give better feedback.
The Typical Development Cycle
Here's what building from a PRD usually looks like in practice.
Phase 1 (0–5 min): Antigravity proposes an architecture and generates the basic screen structure. At this stage, verify that the structure matches your PRD's intent. If the screen count or navigation model is wrong, correct it here before the implementation goes further.
Phase 2 (5–20 min): Feature-by-feature implementation. Feedback works best when it's specific and diff-based: "The submit button on the invoice screen doesn't work" is more useful than "the forms aren't working." The more precisely you describe what's wrong, the faster it gets fixed.
Phase 3 (20–40 min): Design and UI refinement. Natural language instructions work well here: "make it more minimal," "increase the button size," "use a softer color palette." Specific hex codes and pixel values also work if you have them.
Phase 4 (40–60 min): Testing and final adjustments. Preview the app or run it on a real device, and paste any error messages directly into Antigravity. It diagnoses and fixes most errors faster than reading documentation would.
Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Vague PRD: "Build something useful for small businesses" leaves too much open. If your feature list is specific — even just three or four lines — the output quality improves significantly. Write the feature list first if you're short on time.
Cascading corrections: "Fix this" → "actually, fix that too" → "wait, revert the first one" is a pattern that degrades the conversation state. Collect a few corrections, then send them together. Antigravity handles batched feedback well.
Perfectionism on the first pass: The MVP's job is to work, not to be beautiful. Real user feedback on a rough but functional app is more valuable than a polished app that took three times longer. Ship early, iterate on what users actually find confusing.
Restarting too often: Starting over from scratch feels productive but usually isn't. If the first output has structural problems, describe the specific mismatch and let Antigravity adjust. Complete restarts lose all context and tend to reproduce similar problems.
Wrapping Up
The PRD-first workflow is really about forcing the "what are we building?" thinking to happen before the "let's build it" conversation starts. It makes the AI-assisted development process faster, less frustrating, and more likely to produce something you actually want.
A 500-word document turning into a working app in under an hour sounds like a promise that can't be kept. The first time it happens, it changes how you think about building things. Start small, write something down, and see for yourself.