How to ask AI to fix an error in your app (beginner prompt)

Short answer: paste the prompt below into your AI coding tool (Cursor, Claude Code, Replit, Lovable, Bolt or ChatGPT), fill in the [PLACEHOLDERS], and send. SI's tip: no stress, getting stuck is totally normal. You've got this. This is prompt "12. Here's the Error, Fix It" from the Hey SI Starter Pack.

When to use it: When you see a red error message, whether in the terminal, the browser, the browser console, or your tool's preview. Pasting the full error is the single best thing you can do for the AI.

The prompt

I got an error. I'm a beginner, so please be careful and explain simply.

What I was doing: [WHAT YOU CLICKED / TYPED / RAN - e.g. "I clicked Save on the add-plant form"]
What I expected: [WHAT SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED]
What happened instead: [WHAT YOU SAW]

The full error message:
[PASTE THE ENTIRE ERROR - ALL OF IT, EVEN IF IT'S LONG]

Where I saw it: [TERMINAL / BROWSER PAGE / BROWSER CONSOLE / TOOL PREVIEW]
Last thing that changed before it broke: [e.g. "we just built step 4" / "I don't know"]

Please:
1. Explain in 1–2 plain sentences what the error means.
2. Tell me the most likely cause.
3. Fix it with the smallest change possible. Don't rewrite unrelated code.
4. Tell me how to check that it's fixed.
If you're not sure of the cause, add a temporary check (like a log message) to find out first, instead of guessing.

Example (filled in)

What I was doing: I clicked Save on the add-plant form What I expected: the new plant shows up in my list What happened instead: the page went white The full error message: TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'map') … Where I saw it: browser console Last thing that changed: we just built step 3 (saving plants)

Tips

• How to find the browser console: right-click the page → Inspect → Console tab. Red lines are errors.
• Paste the whole error. The useful part is often at the bottom (or the top). Never paste API keys or passwords, though. Swap them out for [REDACTED].
• If the fix doesn't work after 2 tries, don't keep asking the same way. Use Prompt 14 (Break the Loop) or Prompt 16 (go back to your last save point).
• When it's fixed, make a save point (Prompt 11).

New here? Start with how to vibe code your first app and set up an AGENTS.md rules file.