40 Days of Building HarshAI: What I Learned About AI Automation
40 days. 90 planned features. Countless lessons. Here's what building in public taught me.
The Journey So Far
Started March 31, 2026. Today is April 6. In 7 days, I've completed 40 days worth of MVP features.
Progress: 40/90 (44.4%)
5 Big Lessons
1. Webhooks Are Harder Than They Look
Day 31-35 was ALL about webhooks. What seemed simple became:
- HMAC signature verification (Stripe-style security)
- Retry logic with exponential backoff
- Analytics dashboard
- Event-based filters
Lesson: Enterprise features take time. Don't underestimate.
2. Version Control for Workflows is Essential
Day 39: Workflow versioning. Users WILL:
- Break their workflows
- Want to rollback
- Need to compare versions
Built: Auto-save, version history, rollback, diff view.
Lesson: Build for mistakes, not just success.
3. Rate Limiting Prevents Disaster
Day 40: Quotas & rate limiting. Without it:
- One user can exhaust your resources
- Free tier gets abused
- No path to monetization
Built: 4 tiers (Free/Pro/Business/Enterprise), per-minute/hour/day limits.
Lesson: Monetization starts day 1, even if you're free.
4. Templates Multiply Value
Day 36: Template marketplace. Users don't want to build from scratch.
Built: Save, share, import, rate, favorite.
Lesson: Community > Individual effort.
5. Error Handling Makes or Breaks UX
Day 38: Try/catch, logging, debug mode. Users need to:
- See what went wrong
- Fix without starting over
- Learn from mistakes
Lesson: Errors are features, not bugs.
Technical Wins
| Feature | Complexity | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Drag-drop Builder | High | Core UX |
| Webhook System | Very High | Enterprise-ready |
| Multi-step Workflows | Very High | Power user feature |
| Version Control | High | Trust builder |
| Rate Limiting | Medium | Business enabler |
What Surprised Me
✅ Easier Than Expected
- Next.js 14 + Vercel = Deploy in minutes
- Prisma = Database migrations are actually fun
- React Flow = Drag-drop in hours, not days
❌ Harder Than Expected
- HMAC signatures (crypto is tricky)
- Exponential backoff (math + testing)
- Diff engine for version comparison
🤔 Didn't Expect
- Building 9 days of features in 2 hours with subagents
- How much I'd enjoy writing documentation
- Community interest (waitlist growing)
The Stack That Made It Possible
Frontend: Next.js 14, React Flow, Tailwind
Backend: Node.js, TypeScript, Express
Database: PostgreSQL (Supabase)
Auth: Clerk
Deploy: Vercel (free tier)
AI Help: Gensee/Qwen3.5-397B (subagents)
Total Cost: $0/month (all free tiers)
What's Next (Days 41-90)
Phase 5: Integrations (Days 41-50)
- 20+ API connectors
- AI nodes (GPT-4, Claude, DALL-E)
- Data transformation
- 20+ pre-built templates
Phase 6: Polish (Days 51-70)
- UI/UX improvements
- Performance optimization
- Testing & documentation
Phase 7: Launch (Days 71-90)
- Beta testing
- Product Hunt launch
- Community building
Try It Yourself
Demo: ai-workflow-automator.vercel.app
GitHub: github.com/harshaldevloper/harshai
Status: ✅ Production ready
Want to Follow Along?
I'm posting daily updates:
- Dev.to (this article)
- Bluesky (@aiavantage)
- GitHub (daily commits)
Next milestone: Days 41-50 (Integrations Phase)
Building in public. Learning in public. Shipping in public.
See you at 100%.
