Timeline: 2026 · Category: 🏠 Personal

HandwerkerAI is a private fullstack prototype I developed in 2026 to support small craft and service businesses in handling everyday administrative tasks.

The goal was to explore how AI-assisted workflows (using Claude) could simplify processes such as offer creation, customer communication, and project organization.

The project evolved into a modular platform covering customer management, offer generation, invoicing, material planning, and scheduling.

Key Features

  • AI-assisted offer generation — structured prompts to create professional offers
  • Email reply generation — AI-powered response drafts for customer communication
  • Customer management system — full CRUD with search and filtering
  • Invoice and project calculation tools — automatic price calculations
  • Material and resource management — track project materials and costs
  • Appointment and deadline tracking — scheduling and calendar integration
  • Authentication and session handling — secure login via NextAuth
  • Premium feature system — feature gating for monetization testing

Architecture

The system was built as a modern fullstack web application.

Frontend

  • Next.js App Router with React + TypeScript
  • TailwindCSS for styling
  • Dark / Light theme support
  • Responsive sidebar navigation
  • Structured forms for business data entry

Backend

  • Next.js API Routes
  • Authentication via NextAuth
  • AI integration via Claude API
  • Structured endpoints for chat, offers, and email generation

Data Handling

  • LocalStorage for rapid prototyping (database migration planned)
  • Structured data models: Customers, Appointments, Materials, Offers, Invoice positions, Company settings

Development Focus

The project focused on learning and experimenting with:

  • Fullstack workflow design from UI to API
  • Feature modularization and clean separation
  • Authentication flows with NextAuth
  • AI API integration patterns
  • Business process modelling
  • Rapid prototyping without overengineering
  • UX flows for structured data entry

Challenges & Learnings

  • Designing reusable API routes for different workflows
  • Structuring business data flexibly for future database migration
  • Handling feature gating (premium vs free)
  • Balancing UI simplicity with feature richness
  • Iterating rapidly without accumulating tech debt

Current Status

The platform remains a private prototype, but successfully demonstrates how AI features can integrate into everyday business workflows.

Planned improvements:

  • Database persistence (PostgreSQL)
  • Payment integration
  • Multi-user support
  • Automated testing

Tech Stack

Next.js · React · TypeScript · TailwindCSS · NextAuth · Claude API · LocalStorage