Starter Guides
Handpicked guides for trying something new. Pick one, open your laptop and work through it at your own pace.
All links checked 4 Oct 2026
New to coding? Start with these 3
In order, from no code to your first code. All in the browser with nothing to install, about 55 minutes in total. You'll need a Google and a GitHub account.
Prototype and automate
Build apps in Google AI Studio
Describe the app you want in plain English and let Build mode write and run it for you, with no code and nothing to install.
Design app screens with Stitch
Describe an app or upload a sketch and Stitch, from Google Labs, designs the screens for you, ready to take into Figma or code.
Build an AI mini app with Opal
Remix a demo from the Opal gallery into your own AI mini app, built by describing each step in plain English.
Automate Google Sheets with Apps Script
Paste a short script into a Google Sheet to make your own spreadsheet function, then build from there to automate Sheets, Docs and Gmail.
Sell something with a Stripe payment link
Make a shareable payment page for a product, a subscription or pay-what-you-want from the Stripe Dashboard, with no website or code needed.
Make a colour scheme with Material Theme Builder
Pick a colour or upload an image and get a full Material 3 colour scheme, with light and dark modes, ready to export to your code.
Build with Gemini and agents
Gemini API quickstart
Get an API key from Google AI Studio and make your first Gemini API call in minutes, in Python, JavaScript, Java, Go or REST.
Agent Development Kit
Install Google's Agent Development Kit and build your first AI agent that can use tools, in Python, TypeScript, Go, Java or Kotlin.
Gemini CLI
Install Google's open-source AI agent for the terminal, sign in with your Google account, and have it read, write and run code in a project of yours.
Get started with Gemini in Colab
Run the Gemini API cookbook's starter notebook in Google Colab and try your first prompts in Python, all in the browser.
Get started with Genkit
Add AI features to a JavaScript app with Genkit, Google's open-source framework from the Firebase team. Pick the guide for your framework.
Hand a task to Jules
Connect a GitHub repo and give Google's coding agent a task, like fixing a bug or writing docs. It works in the cloud and comes back with a change for you to review.
Build with Gemini using the AI SDK
Use Vercel's open-source AI SDK with Gemini through its Google provider and a free API key from Google AI Studio, in any JavaScript or TypeScript app.
Web and cloud
Astro starter templates
Pick one of the official Astro starter templates, from a blog to a portfolio, and open it in your browser with nothing to install, or start it locally with npm.
Get to know Firebase for web
Build an event RSVP and chat app with Firebase Authentication for sign-in and Cloud Firestore for live data.
Deploy to Cloud Run
Put a sample container live on its own public URL with Cloud Run. Needs a Google Cloud project with billing turned on.
Send emails with Next.js
Send your first email to yourself from a Next.js app with Resend. The test sender works straight after sign-up, so there is no domain to set up.
React Email
Design emails as React components with a live preview in your browser, starting from a project of ready-made templates.
Take a payment with Stripe Checkout
Add a checkout button that sends people to a payment page Stripe hosts for you, then try it with Stripe's test card numbers so no real money moves.
Deploy a Vercel template
Pick a starter for Next.js, Astro, SvelteKit or more and deploy it with one click: Vercel copies it into a new repo of yours and puts it live on the free Hobby plan.
Learn Next.js
Vercel's free course: build a full-stack dashboard with login, a database and pages for managing invoices. A whole course rather than a quick start, so pick a chapter.
Data and security
Query big data with the BigQuery sandbox
Run SQL over Google's public datasets in the browser, with no credit card or billing account. The free sandbox covers 10 GiB of storage and 1 TiB of queries a month.
Add passkey sign-in to a web app
Finish a demo app's sign-in so people can create a passkey and use it instead of a password, with the browser offering it right in the sign-in form.
Protect your data with Firebase Security Rules
Lock down a small blog built on Cloud Firestore: write rules for who can read and change what, and prove them with tests against the local emulator.
Ship and collaborate
Make your first Asana API request
Create a personal access token and use curl to read, create and update tasks in your Asana workspace, the first step to automating your team's busywork.
Hello World on GitHub
Learn GitHub's pull request workflow in the browser: make a repository, start a branch, commit a change and merge it. No coding needed.
Code in the browser with GitHub Codespaces
Open a sample app in VS Code running in your browser, run it and edit it live. Personal accounts get free monthly hours, so it is a setup for other guides too.
Publish a site with GitHub Pages
Create a repository named after your username and GitHub publishes it as your own site at username.github.io, set up entirely in the browser.
Get started with the Linear API
Make a personal API key and query your Linear issues and projects with curl through Linear's GraphQL API, the same API Linear's own apps use.
Mobile
Your first Flutter app
Build a small app that generates names and keeps a list of favourites, and learn how Flutter layouts, state and responsive design fit together.
Create your first Android app
Make a personalised greeting app in Android Studio with Kotlin and Jetpack Compose, and preview it as you change it.
Add Gemini to your app with Firebase AI Logic
Call Gemini straight from an Android, iOS, Flutter or web app with the Firebase AI Logic SDKs, on the no-cost Gemini Developer API.
Get to know Firebase for Flutter
Build an event RSVP and guestbook chat app for Android, iOS and the web, with Firebase Authentication for sign-in and Cloud Firestore for live data.
These link to each vendor's own guide, so they stay current. Spotted a broken link, or know a guide that belongs here? Email hello@gdgsydney.com.