In this ever-changing world, where everything seems to be changing very quickly, website creation and deployment can seem daunting. Most traditional approaches involve a lot of coding and similarly overwhelming infrastructure management. But large language models combined with innovative tools like Cursor are changing the way applications are developed.
Cursor will be a game-changing IDE for creating and deploying applications faster than humans can imagine. It leverages tight integration with LLMs like Gemini to automate most of the big and annoying steps in web development by turning your ideas directly into functional code.
This article will guide you through the simplified construction and deployment process of a simple website using Cursor and AWS, while exploring a human-centered website development approach with an LL.M. as a collaborator. We’ll see how Gemini creates a starting scaffolding, performs some infrastructure creation on AWS using the AWS CDK, and uploads our website to Amazon S3.
How Cursor works with LLM
In essence, Cursor is the intellectual bridge between your creative vision and the code that implements that vision. A simplified breakdown looks like this:
Natural Language Input: You provide Cursor with your desired website functionality or features in simple, human-understandable language. An example might be,
_“Build a simple landing page with a hero section, an about us section, and a contact form.”_
Code generation supported by LLM: The magic of Cursor brings together the power of an LL.M. (like Gemini) to translate your natural language instructions into real code. Consider HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and any back-end code you may need.
Deployment automation: Cursor offers deployment of the generated code on AWS, the cloud provider of your choice. It manages the complexity of infrastructure configuration for smooth, seamless deployment.
Create your template:
Define the core elements of your website: First, outline the very important parts that must be present on your website. Consider these:
Home page structure: hero banner, about us, services, contact information.
Content types: Blog posts, product pages, landing pages.
Design considerations: color scheme, layout, overall aesthetics.
Create templates with Gemini: Use Gemini to create basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript templates that fit the structure and design you need. To this end, various prompts can be given to drive the generation using Gemini. For example:
“I want to make a website for my portfolio/profile. I have cursor/AI assistant. Give me a template that requires AI to do this through automated deployment in AWS.“
The above prompt will instruct the LLM (ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.) to produce a template that must include SEO, JSON-LD, and other relevant considerations.
Optimize and customize: Review the generated template and make any necessary adjustments. This may involve fine-tuning styles, adding specific functionality, or integrating third-party libraries.
Created sample template:
`Topic: Building a website for my personal portfolio
Dear cursor,
I want to build a website for my personal portfolio/profile. Please help me solve the following problem:
- Website structure and content:
front page:
Introduce yourself with a short personal profile and professional summary.
Showcasing a selection of my best projects (with images/videos and short descriptions).
Added a “Contact” section, which includes an email form and links to my social media profiles.
About me:
Expand my professional background, education, and skills.
Add a personal touch to make it more appealing (e.g., hobbies, interests).
project:
Detailed description of each project including:
Project name, date, and roles.
technology used.
Project goals and challenges.
Links to live projects or case studies.
touch:
Contact form (name, email, message).
Links to social media profiles (LinkedIn, GitHub, Twitter, etc.).
Blog (optional):
Share insights, ideas and experiences relevant to my field.
- Technical implementation:
Choose the right platform:
Static website generator: (e.g. Jekyll, Hugo, Gatsby) for increased performance and flexibility.
Design and development:
Design: Create clean and professional designs using CSS and CSS frameworks such as Bootstrap, Tailwind CSS.
Development: Implementing the website using HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
Hosting: Choose a reliable website hosting provider (e.g. Netlify, Vercel, GitHub Pages).
- Other considerations:
Mobile Responsiveness: Make sure your website looks great on all devices (desktops, tablets, and smartphones).
Accessibility: Making a website accessible to users with disabilities (e.g., screen reader compatibility).
Performance optimization: Minimize page load times by optimizing images and using a content delivery network (CDN).
Security: Implement basic security measures to protect my website from threats.
Also create a new CDK project.
Please provide me:
A step-by-step guide or project plan to help me organize the website creation process.
Recommendations for tools and resources that can help me with website development, SEO, and JSON-LD implementation.
Thank you for your assistance.
`
Developing with an AI assistant is all about providing the right instructions.
Download Cursor, if you are a developer, the pro version will be of great help to you.
Develop development guidelines: You can add custom instructions for the cursor’s AI in “Cursor Settings” > “General” > “AI Rules”. These will help inform its behavior in features like Chat and ⌘ K, including but not limited to coding style preferences, indentation, naming conventions, preferred libraries or frameworks, security best practices, and considerations around accessibility.
Context with necessary documents: After you first generate code, you can upload relevant documents into the Cursor project to provide context. With this in mind, AI context has been greatly enhanced and is able to give more accurate and relevant code suggestions.
The entire template is available in the cursor editor.
Continue chatting with Composer and ask it to run the application locally for deployment to AWS.
To further refine the code generation process and build it to your project, you can use cursor settings to:
Accuracy of template generation: The quality of the generated templates depends largely on how clear and specific your prompts to Gemini are. Try different tips, iteratively refining them to get the desired output.
Infrastructure complexity: If your site requires more complex infrastructure, such as a database or serverless capabilities, the CDK code may also be more complex. Consider breaking down your infrastructure into smaller independent modules.
Debugging and Troubleshooting: Even though using Cursor simplifies a lot of development, problems may arise during deployment or runtime. Leverage AWS CloudWatch logs and debugging tools to identify and fix issues.
in conclusion
This tutorial will give you the foundation for building your own website, which could change everything about modern web development.