Tips, Tricks & Resources
Best practices, common mistakes, glossary, and where to get help.
You have learned a lot! This final module covers best practices, common mistakes, and where to go from here. Think of this as your cheat sheet for the future.
What Antigravity Can and Cannot Do
Before you go off building your dream apps, let us set some realistic expectations. Antigravity is powerful, but it has limits — just like any tool.
What It CAN Do Well
- ✓Build simple to medium web apps (websites, tools, dashboards)
- ✓Create forms, lists, tables, charts, and basic layouts
- ✓Build prototypes and MVPs (Minimum Viable Products — the simplest version of your idea)
- ✓Fix errors and debug problems automatically
- ✓Connect to APIs and external services
- ✓Work with many programming languages and frameworks
- ✓Generate internal tools and automation scripts
What It CANNOT Do (Well)
- ✗Build large, complex apps like Instagram or Uber (those need big teams)
- ✗Handle highly secure systems (like banking apps) without expert review
- ✗Build native mobile apps directly (it builds web apps that can be converted)
- ✗Work without internet — it needs a connection to the AI models
- ✗Always get it right the first time — you will often need to iterate and fix things
- ✗Replace a professional developer for mission-critical or large-scale projects
Set the right expectations 💡
Think of Antigravity as a super-smart assistant, not a magic wand. It is amazing for building tools, prototypes, and personal projects. But like any assistant, you need to check its work, give it feedback, and sometimes try a different approach.
Best Practices for Prompting
1. Be specific and descriptive
Good example:
Build a contact form with fields for name, email, and message, and a blue submit button.
Not so good:
Make a form.
2. One task at a time
Good example:
Add a search bar that filters contacts by name.
Not so good:
Add search, filters, export, print, and dark mode.
3. Describe what, not how
Good example:
Show expenses in a pie chart grouped by category.
Not so good:
Use Chart.js library with a canvas element and render a doughnut chart...
4. Give context
Good example:
The expense tracker we just built needs a monthly summary. Add a section that shows total spending per month.
Not so good:
Add a monthly view.
5. Review before adding more
Good example:
Test each feature. Fix problems. Then add the next feature.
Not so good:
Send five prompts in a row without checking the results.
How to Deal With Errors (Your Survival Guide)
Errors happen to everyone — even expert programmers! Here is your step-by-step guide to handling them like a pro:
Step 1: Do not panic
Seeing red text or error messages is normal. It does not mean you broke anything permanently. Think of errors as the app telling you it needs help.
Step 2: Copy the error
If you see an error message (red text on screen or in the terminal), select it with your mouse and copy it (Ctrl+C). You do not need to understand it.
Step 3: Paste it to the AI
Go to the Agent Manager and type something like:
Step 4: Describe what you see
If there is no error message but something looks wrong, describe it:
Step 5: If the fix does not work
Sometimes the AI needs more than one try. You can say:
Step 6: The nuclear option (start fresh)
If nothing works after several tries, you can ask the AI to rebuild that part:
The /browser command 💡
Antigravity has a special command called /browser. If you type this in the chat, the AI opens Google Chrome, looks at your app, and finds problems visually — like a second pair of eyes! (It needs Google Chrome installed, and it will ask for your permission the first time it opens the browser.)
Handy shortcut commands 💡
Antigravity understands a few special commands you can type in the chat. They start with a slash (/):
/goal— tells the AI to keep working until the whole task is finished, without stopping to ask you./grill-me— asks the AI to question you first, so you both agree on the details before it starts building./browser— lets the AI open Google Chrome to look at and test your app.
You do not have to use these — plain English works too — but they can be handy.
Quirks and Things to Watch Out For
Antigravity is powerful, but it has some quirks you should know about. Understanding these will save you a lot of frustration!
🧠 Memory and Context
The AI has a limited memory within each conversation. It remembers what you said recently, but if the conversation gets very long (many back-and-forth messages), it may “forget” earlier instructions.
What to do: If the AI starts ignoring earlier instructions, remind it by repeating the key details. You can also create a rules file (a simple text file in your project) with important instructions that the AI reads automatically.
🔄 Closing and Reopening Antigravity
When you close Antigravity and open it again later (even days later), your project files are still there — they are saved on your computer. But the conversation history may be gone.
This means the AI does not remember what you discussed before. It is like talking to a fresh assistant who can see your files but does not know the story behind them.
What to do: When you come back to a project after a break, start your first message with some context. For example:
⚡ The AI Might Change Things You Did Not Ask For
Sometimes when you ask for one change, the AI might accidentally modify other parts of your app too. This can break features that were working before.
What to do: After each change, test the whole app — not just the new feature. If something else broke, tell the AI: “The search feature stopped working after the last change. It was working before. Can you fix it without changing the export feature?”
🐌 Slow Responses
Sometimes the AI takes a long time to respond, especially for big changes. This is normal — it is thinking and planning!
What to do: Be patient. If it seems stuck for more than 5 minutes, you can try sending a follow-up message like “Are you still working on this?” or close the chat and start a new one.
📁 Plan for the Future
Keep a simple text file (like a diary) next to your project where you write down:
- What you have built so far
- What the AI did in each session
- What you want to build next
- Any problems you ran into and how they were fixed
This “project diary” will help you (and the AI) stay on track, especially when you come back after a break.
Pro tip: Use project rules 💡
Create a file called RULES.md in your project folder. Write your important instructions there, like: “This is a contact manager app. Always keep the search feature working. Use a blue color scheme. Save data to local storage.” The AI will read this file and follow the rules automatically.
Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them
| Mistake | Solution |
|---|---|
| Giving vague prompts like "make it better" | Be specific: "Make the heading larger and change the button color to green" |
| Asking for too many features at once | Add one feature per prompt, test it, then move on |
| Not testing between prompts | Always preview your app after each change |
| Ignoring error messages | Copy and paste errors to the AI — it can fix most of them |
| Expecting perfection on the first try | Iteration is normal! Plan on 2-3 rounds of tweaks |
| Closing the app without saving | Antigravity auto-saves, but make backup copies of your project folder |
Glossary — Words You Might Not Know
Here are some words used in this course and what they mean in plain English:
Where to Get Help
The official documentation from Google
Google's own step-by-step tutorial
More advanced projects from Google
See what others have built
Get help from Google
Ask questions on the official Google AI developer forum
Congratulations!
You have completed the Getting Started with Google Antigravity course! You now know how to build and publish apps using plain English. The only limit is your imagination. Happy building!