Changing things yourself

Your app lives on your computer as a folder of files. You can open it and change anything yourself: the words, the colours, the pictures, the layout. Claude doesn't mind. It's your app.

There are three places to do it. Three ways to use NodeGX compares them. This page covers the two editors.

In Studio

NodeGX Studio is the day-to-day place for changes. In the Claude desktop app it opens inside the chat. On its own, it opens your project from its welcome screen. It is coming soon as a download; see NodeGX Studio.

In Studio, Design is the real app. Click a thing on the screen and change it in the panel. Workflow is what happens when someone clicks. Data is what the app stores and who can see it.

Some parts Claude builds are not editable in Studio: a script, or a piece of logic with its own states. Studio shows you what such a part produces and names it. From there you can look at the wiring underneath, read only. To change it, use the NodeGX editor, or ask Claude, which will offer to build you a small editor for that part or walk you through the NodeGX editor.

In the NodeGX editor

Open NodeGX. On the Projects tab, your app is listed under Recent projects. Click it to open it.

A project Claude has made shows up there once NodeGX has opened it. If you can't see yours, ask Claude: "Please open my project in NodeGX." Or click Open project… and choose the project's folder.

Change what you like

Anything Claude built, you can change. Fix a word on a page, swap a picture, try a different colour, move something.

If you're not sure how to do something in NodeGX:

• The Learning tab on the NodeGX start screen has built-in lessons that teach the editor.
• Ask Claude how to do it yourself: "How do I change the heading on the home page in NodeGX?"

If you change something and don't like it, undo it: Cmd+Z on a Mac, Ctrl+Z on Windows.

Go back to Claude for help

Changing things yourself doesn't lock Claude out. Whenever something is too fiddly, too big, or you're just stuck, go back to your Claude conversation and ask.

Tell Claude to look again

This is the one thing to remember.

NodeGX always reads your project fresh, so it sees your changes straight away. In Studio inside the chat, Claude is told what you changed and carries on from it. In the NodeGX editor, Claude remembers what it read earlier in the conversation and may not look again. If it doesn't know about your change, it might build on the old version, or quietly put back something you changed.

So after you change things in the editor yourself, send this before you ask for anything else:

I've changed some things in NodeGX myself. Please look at the project again before you change anything else.

One project per conversation

Once Claude has opened or made a project in a conversation, it stays connected to that project for the rest of the conversation. To work on a different app, start a new conversation.

Quick reference

• Studio for day-to-day changes. The NodeGX editor for every node and wire.
• In the editor, your app is under Recent projects on the Projects tab.
• Change anything you like. Cmd+Z or Ctrl+Z undoes it.
• The Learning tab teaches the editor. Claude can explain too.
• After you change things, tell Claude: "I've changed some things in NodeGX myself. Please look at the project again before you change anything else."
• One app per conversation. For a different app, start a new one.