Build your own Duolingo with Claude Code

A gamified language learning app: short lessons of mixed exercise types, streaks and daily goals, xP and a weekly leaderboard and more.

1–2 weeksMore screens, accounts and a backend

The Claude Code prompt

Build my own take on Duolingo: a gamified language learning app. Give it an original name, logo, colours and copy, and do not use Duolingo's name, branding or assets.

Version one should have:
- Short lessons of mixed exercise types
- Streaks and daily goals
- XP and a weekly leaderboard
- Skill path that unlocks in order
- Hearts that refill over time

The hard part: Writing good lesson content. Generate exercises with Claude from a word list, then review them by hand.

How to build it:
1. Read this folder first. If it is empty, set up Next.js (App Router, TypeScript, Tailwind) with Postgres through Prisma or Supabase, and Supabase Auth or Auth.js for sign-in. Write a short PLAN.md with the data model, screens, third-party services and what you are leaving out of version one.
2. Build the core loop end to end before anything else: short lessons of mixed exercise types, working with real data saved to the database.
3. Add the rest of the features one at a time, and seed realistic demo data so every screen looks alive.
4. Keep API keys in environment variables, and put any paid service behind a small interface with a local stub, so the app runs on a fresh machine without accounts.
5. Run it, click through every screen on desktop and mobile widths, fix what breaks, and finish with a summary of what works, what is stubbed and how to deploy it.

Paste it into Claude Code in an empty folder. It plans first, so read PLAN.md and steer before it starts building.

Version one

  • Short lessons of mixed exercise types
  • Streaks and daily goals
  • XP and a weekly leaderboard
  • Skill path that unlocks in order
  • Hearts that refill over time

The hard part

Writing good lesson content. Generate exercises with Claude from a word list, then review them by hand.

Make it yours: a niche Duolingo ignores, an original name and brand, and one feature it does badly done well.

More to build

More in Learning · Every build idea