# Build an app with the AI agent

> Use the AI agent of Pyzed Design to build a whole desktop app from a description: connect a model, write a good request, follow its plan, review its changes and keep improving the result.

Source: https://albakore.github.io/pyzed/tutorials/advanced/ai-agent/

Pyzed Design has an **AI agent** built in. Describe an app in plain words and it plans the work, creates the
project, draws the forms, writes the Python, looks at the result, runs it and fixes what breaks, using the same
editor you use. You stay in charge: every change can be undone or rejected in one click.

| Goal | Time | Level | You need |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| An expense tracker built from a description, then improved by hand | 30 minutes | Advanced · no code needed | Pyzed Design and an AI model (Claude, or any provider in the list) |

## What you'll learn

- Open the **Agent** panel and connect a model.
- Write a request that gets a good result the first time.
- Follow the agent's **plan**, and **keep** or **reject** its changes.
- Point at things with **@** (a control, the form, a file) and use **/** commands.
- Keep improving the app by hand, with the agent at your side.

**Check what it builds:**

An agent is a fast helper, not a guarantee. Read the code it writes, run the app and test the important paths
yourself before you ship it, especially anything that touches files, money or personal data.

## Steps

1. **Open the panel.** In Pyzed Design press <kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>Alt</kbd>+<kbd>A</kbd> (or **View → Agent
   panel**). The first time it asks you to **connect a model**: click a provider to sign in with the browser, or
   **All providers…** for the rest. If you installed Pyzed with pip, add the agent's extras first:

**uv:**

```bash title="Windows, macOS and Linux"
uv tool install "pyzed-ui[designer,agents]"
```

**pip:**

```bash title="Windows, macOS and Linux (inside your environment)"
python -m pip install "pyzed-ui[designer,agents]"
```

**python:**

```bash title="The standalone Pyzed Design app"
# nothing to install: the agent is included
```

2. **Ask for the app.** Type `/app` and describe it. Say **what** it is for, **what** is on screen and **what**
   should happen; leave the "how" to the agent:

   > Create an app to track my expenses. A form with date, amount, a category drop-down (Food, Transport, Home,
   > Fun) and a note. Save adds the expense to a table below and to a JSON file next to the app. Show the total
   > for the month at the top and validate that the amount is a positive number.

3. **Follow the plan.** The agent writes a **Plan** card above the message box and ticks the steps off: create the
   project, add dependencies, draw the forms, wire the events, write the handlers, take a screenshot of each form,
   run checks and finally run the app. Each tool it uses is a line in the thread; click one to see what it did.

4. **Review.** When it finishes, run the app with <kbd>F5</kbd> and try it. The **Agent changes** bar offers
   **Reject** (put every file it touched back as it was) or **Keep**. <kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>Z</kbd> still undoes
   one change at a time.

5. **Improve it, pointing at things.** Select a control and ask about *this*, or type **@** to attach the form,
   its code, a control or a file:

   > @amount should accept a comma as the decimal separator, and the table should show the newest expense first.

6. **Polish with commands.** `/tidy` aligns the controls and evens out the margins, `/look` takes a screenshot of
   the form and improves its design, `/fix` checks the code and fixes what it finds, `/explain` walks you through
   the form and its handlers.

7. **Take over.** It is your project: open the files, change the layout by hand, write code. The agent reads what
   you changed in the next message, so you can switch between doing it yourself and asking.

**Requests that work:**

Name the screens and the fields, the rules ("amount must be positive"), where data is saved, and one example of
the result. Ask for one change at a time when you refine. More advice in [Prompting](https://albakore.github.io/pyzed/ai/prompting/).

**Profiles:**

**Write** (the default) edits forms, code and files, and asks before it creates files or runs the app unless you
turn off **Ask before writing files**; **Ask** only reads and answers; **Minimal** is a plain conversation with no
tools. Pick one in the profile menu at the bottom of the message editor.

## Next

- [AI agents](https://albakore.github.io/pyzed/editor/ai-agents/) in the designer manual: providers, MCP servers, external agents, images.
- The [AI](https://albakore.github.io/pyzed/ai/) section: the MCP server and `llms.txt` for agents outside the editor (Claude Code, Cursor...).
- [Package your app](https://albakore.github.io/pyzed/tutorials/advanced/packaging/) once it is ready.