# For founders — Canopy

> Practical guidance for product builders who direct agents and need to inspect results.

You can direct an AI coding agent without typing every line of code. You still need to know what success should look like and who can verify a production change. Start with a small, testable request and a live preview. The guides here make the prerequisites and review steps visible, including the points where an experienced developer should help.

Canopy runs installed coding CLIs; their providers control model access, limits, and billing. Check the installed app release for version-specific features. Each link opens the article's clean Markdown version.

## Articles

- [A workspace for people who direct AI agents](https://canopyide.dev/blog/a-workspace-for-people-who-direct-ai-agents.md): A practical founder workflow for directing a coding agent: define one outcome, run the product, inspect evidence, and hand off risky decisions.
- [AI-built app works locally but fails on Vercel Preview](https://canopyide.dev/guides/ai-built-app-works-locally-fails-vercel-preview.md): Find the first difference between a working Canopy run and a broken Vercel Preview: commit, build, environment, runtime request, or backend target.
- [AI-generated pull request review checklist and reviewer prompt](https://canopyide.dev/guides/ai-generated-pr-review-checklist.md): A practical checklist for intent, changed files, risk, tests, UI behavior, comments, and the final diff, with a copyable reviewer brief.
- [An AI coding-agent task brief you can copy and use](https://canopyide.dev/guides/ai-coding-agent-task-brief-template.md): A bounded brief with context, acceptance checks, constraints, and a handoff format for Claude Code, Codex, or another coding CLI.
- [Can a noncoder build software with AI coding agents?](https://canopyide.dev/guides/can-noncoders-build-software-with-ai-agents.md): A realistic first-project path for noncoders: choose a bounded task, run the result, review observable behavior, and know when a developer must check the change.
- [Can I launch my AI-built app? A founder's decision sheet](https://canopyide.dev/guides/ai-built-app-launch-checklist-for-founders.md): A go-or-hold review for an AI-built web app: running behavior, access, data, payments, recovery, and the exact release version.
- [Can I use voice with a coding agent in Canopy?](https://canopyide.dev/use-cases/voice-dictation-for-coding-agents.md): Choose between Canopy dictation, a CLI's own voice input, and hands-free conversation; turn a spoken issue into a checked task and review its result.
- [Canopy vs Replit Agent for building an app](https://canopyide.dev/use-cases/canopy-vs-replit-agent-for-building-apps.md): Compare a hosted AI app builder with a local multi-CLI workspace across first setup, parallel tasks, preview, GitHub, deployment, team access, and usage.
- [Debug an agent-built page using the browser console and network log](https://canopyide.dev/guides/debug-agent-built-page-with-console-and-network.md): Collect the exact failing action, console message, request status, service log, and checkout before asking an agent to fix a broken preview.
- [Did your coding agent weaken a test to make CI pass?](https://canopyide.dev/guides/did-coding-agent-weaken-test-to-make-ci-pass.md): Review changed assertions, skips, mocks, and browser setup against the original behavior before accepting an agent's green check.
- [How do I ask a coding agent for a demo I can inspect?](https://canopyide.dev/guides/ask-coding-agent-for-inspectable-demo.md): A founder-friendly request and acceptance checklist that turns an agent's 'done' message into a running page, observable behavior, and a reviewable diff.
- [How do I check an AI-built page with a keyboard and screen reader?](https://canopyide.dev/guides/test-ai-built-ui-keyboard-screen-reader-before-merge.md): Review an agent-built form and dialog with keyboard, accessible-name, error, and screen-reader checks before accepting the PR.
- [How do I find the command that runs an AI-built app?](https://canopyide.dev/guides/find-command-to-run-ai-built-app.md): A beginner workflow for finding the project directory, runtime, run script, local URL, and first useful error before asking an agent to fix setup.
- [How do I run a Trigger.dev worker beside my app in Canopy?](https://canopyide.dev/guides/run-trigger-dev-worker-in-canopy.md): Set up Trigger.dev once, save its dev command beside the website and API, run a dashboard test, and debug the right process.
- [How do I run Supabase locally with my AI-built app?](https://canopyide.dev/guides/run-supabase-locally-with-ai-built-app.md): Start the Supabase CLI stack, connect the local app to its actual project URL and keys, and verify a test record stays off production.
- [How do I start my website, API, and worker with one click?](https://canopyide.dev/use-cases/one-click-local-dev-stack.md): Run a downloadable three-process project: save its commands, watch a worker change the API count, inspect the preview, and verify the agent's edit.
- [How do I stop a coding agent rebuilding a feature that already exists?](https://canopyide.dev/guides/stop-coding-agent-rebuilding-existing-feature.md): Make the agent locate the active implementation and its callers before editing, then review the smallest change against the running app.
- [How do I turn a Figma design into a running page with a coding agent?](https://canopyide.dev/guides/figma-design-to-running-page-with-coding-agent-canopy.md): Hand an agent one frame, states, assets, and component constraints; run the page in Canopy and review behavior, visuals, and the final diff.
- [How to give a coding agent useful visual feedback](https://canopyide.dev/guides/give-visual-feedback-to-coding-agent.md): Turn a vague 'this looks wrong' into a page, viewport, element, expected behavior, and screenshot an agent can act on.
- [How to hand an AI-built app to a developer for review](https://canopyide.dev/guides/handoff-ai-built-app-to-developer.md): A concrete handoff for founders: reproduce the app, show the exact change, list verified behavior and unknowns, and ask a developer for a risk decision.
- [How to review an AI-generated access-control PR](https://canopyide.dev/guides/review-ai-generated-access-control-pr.md): Use a permission matrix and cross-user tests to review an agent-written authentication or authorization change before merge.
- [How to set up Canopy and run your first AI coding agent](https://canopyide.dev/guides/getting-started-with-ai-coding-agents.md): Install an agent CLI, open a project in Canopy, run the app, and review your first change. Includes a downloadable practice project.
- [How to stop an endless AI code review loop](https://canopyide.dev/guides/stop-endless-ai-code-review-loop.md): When each review pass finds another issue, triage findings against the same acceptance checks, verify the latest commit, and decide what blocks this PR.
- [Is my local AI-built app using the production database?](https://canopyide.dev/guides/is-local-ai-built-app-using-production-database.md): Trace the browser, API, worker, and database targets before an agent tests writes or migrations in a locally running app.
- [Keep building a Bolt app with local coding agents in Canopy](https://canopyide.dev/guides/bolt-to-canopy-local-coding-agent-workflow.md): Connect Bolt to GitHub, isolate an agent change, check the app's backend and run commands, merge in GitHub, and verify Bolt and the live site.
- [My coding agent committed an API key. What now?](https://canopyide.dev/guides/coding-agent-committed-api-key-to-github.md): A staged response to an agent-written secret leak: stop propagation, revoke the credential, restore services, inspect exposure, and decide whether Git history needs cleanup.
- [Research a codebase question without changing code](https://canopyide.dev/guides/research-codebase-question-without-changing-code.md): Choose an answer, source-backed investigation, or implementation task deliberately, then keep findings available for the next decision.
- [Review an AI-built Stripe Checkout before taking payments](https://canopyide.dev/guides/review-ai-built-stripe-checkout-before-launch.md): A founder's test-mode review of Checkout, signed webhooks, delayed payments, duplicate events, and fulfillment before launch.
- [Review an AI-generated Supabase migration before deployment](https://canopyide.dev/guides/review-ai-generated-supabase-migration-before-deploy.md): Check the target project, schema diff, existing data, RLS, staging result, and actual restore option before an agent-written migration reaches production.
- [Turn a screenshot or rough idea into a coding-agent task](https://canopyide.dev/use-cases/turn-screenshot-into-coding-agent-task.md): Capture the evidence, investigate before editing, write a bounded acceptance check, and review the resulting draft PR.
- [v0 not showing your local agent's GitHub changes? Check the branches](https://canopyide.dev/guides/v0-not-showing-local-github-changes.md): Trace a local Canopy agent change through GitHub, v0's base and working branches, Pull Changes, preview deployments, and production permissions.
- [Vercel says the Git author must be a team member: what do I check?](https://canopyide.dev/guides/vercel-git-author-must-be-team-member.md): Diagnose a Vercel PR preview blocked before its build by checking the commit author, connected Git account, project team, and access request.
- [What leaves your machine when you use Canopy?](https://canopyide.dev/use-cases/what-leaves-your-machine-when-using-canopy.md): A plain-language map of local workspace data, coding CLI traffic, optional GitHub and team services, remote tunnels, and on-device dictation.
- [Why does my AI-built app lose data when I refresh?](https://canopyide.dev/guides/ai-built-app-loses-data-on-refresh.md): Find whether a Save button updates only UI state, browser storage, or a real backend, then test the persistence the product actually needs.
- [Why does my browser show the old app after my coding agent changed the code?](https://canopyide.dev/guides/coding-agent-changed-code-but-browser-shows-old-app.md): Trace a stale local preview through the checkout, running server, actual port, hot reload, browser cache, and data request before asking an agent to edit again.
- [Why won’t my dev server start in Canopy?](https://canopyide.dev/guides/dev-server-will-not-start-in-canopy.md): Trace a failed website, API, or worker launch through its checkout, command, first error, port, dependency, and observed URL.
- [Why won’t my phone open my local dev site?](https://canopyide.dev/guides/phone-cannot-open-localhost-dev-server.md): Use the computer's LAN address, check the dev server's bind host and port, then trace API calls and HTTPS-only browser features on the phone.
- [Work on a Lovable app locally in Canopy without losing Git sync](https://canopyide.dev/guides/lovable-to-canopy-local-coding-agent-workflow.md): A branch, environment, preview, and publishing checklist for using local coding agents on a Lovable project connected to GitHub.