Lesson 5: Accounts & Deployment Primer
Your app is running on your machine. In this lesson, you'll create the three accounts that let you store code, store data, and put your app on the internet.
Fast-track: Already have GitHub, Supabase, and Vercel accounts? Skip to the checkpoint and head to Module 1.
Why three accounts?
| Service | What it does | Analogy |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub | Stores your code | Dropbox for code — with a save-point system for your whole project |
| Supabase | Stores your data (database) | A database with batteries included |
| Vercel | Puts your app on the internet | A simpler AWS — takes your code and makes it live |
These three services work together. GitHub holds your code. Supabase holds your data. Vercel takes both and deploys a live website anyone can visit.
GitHub: version control for your code
GitHub is where your code lives online. Every change you make is tracked — who changed what, when, and why. If you ever break something, you can roll back to any previous version.
Think of it like writing an essay in college. Without GitHub, you'd have essay_final.docx, essay_final_v2.docx, essay_FINAL_final.docx. With GitHub, you just have the essay, and every version is saved automatically.
For now, just create the account. We'll connect your project to GitHub in Module 2 — Claude Code will handle most of the setup for you.
GitHub's free tier gives you unlimited public and private repositories. You don't need to pay for anything in this program.
Supabase: your database
Supabase is where your app's data lives — users, content, payments, whatever your app stores.
What makes Supabase special:
- Auto-generated APIs — When you create a database table, Supabase automatically creates a way for your app to read and write to it. No extra code needed.
- Row Level Security (RLS) — A built-in security system where each user can only see and modify their own data. This used to require a lot of manual work. Supabase handles it for you.
- Real-time — Your app can listen for changes to the database and update instantly. No refresh buttons needed.
When you sign up, create an organization (name it after yourself or your project — doesn't matter) and a new project. You'll be asked for:
- Database password — pick something strong and save it somewhere safe (a password manager is ideal). You'll need it later.
- Region — pick the one closest to where your users will be. If you're not sure, "Americas" is a safe default.
- Security options — leave the defaults as-is (Data API enabled, automatic RLS unchecked). We'll set up security properly when we build the database in Module 2.
Don't worry that this project isn't connected to the app you built in Lesson 4 yet. We'll wire everything together in Module 2.
Supabase's free tier includes 2 active projects, 500 MB of database storage, and 1 GB of file storage. More than enough for everything in this program.
Vercel: your deployment platform
Vercel takes your code and puts it on the internet. Connect it to your GitHub repository, and every time you push new code, your live site updates automatically.
It's like a much simpler AWS. You don't need to configure servers, manage containers, or think about scaling. Push code, get a URL, done.
We'll deploy your first app on Vercel in Module 2.
Vercel's free Hobby tier supports unlimited projects and deployments. Perfect for learning and personal projects.
MCP: APIs for AI agents (preview)
You'll hear us mention MCP (Model Context Protocol) throughout this program. Here's the quick version:
MCP is how AI agents like Claude Code connect to external services. Instead of Claude Code having to read API documentation and figure out how to call Stripe or Supabase, an MCP server gives it a direct interface — like a pre-built adapter.
You'll set up your first MCP servers in Module 3. For now, just know they exist and they'll make Claude Code dramatically more capable when connected to your services.
Useful extras
A few tools that make the builder workflow smoother:
- Wispr Flow — Voice-to-text for your computer. Speak your prompts instead of typing them. You express yourself better out loud.
- Claude Code documentation — The official docs. Worth reading through once — it covers every feature and flag.
You've completed Module 0
You went from zero terminal experience to a running app, with all the accounts you need to ship it to the world.
Checkpoint
You're ready for Module 1 if:
- You have a GitHub account
- You have a Supabase account with a project created
- You have a Vercel account
- You understand what each service does (code storage, data storage, internet hosting)