From Prompt to Production: Shipping an AI Feature in 48 Hours

Hook: A timeline-style case study — the AI feature that took me a weekend. Meta description: "Follow my 48-hour journey shipping an AI feature from prompt to production: planning, building, testing, and deploying. A realistic case study for developers." Outline: - Hour-by-hour breakdown: - Hours 1–4: define the feature, choose the model, scope the MVP - Hours 5–16: build the backend (Laravel + OpenAI integration) - Hours 17–30: frontend (React), UX for loading states and errors - Hours 31–40: testing, edge cases, cost guardrails - Hours 41–48: deploy to VPS, monitor, post-launch fix - What I cut to hit the deadline - What I'd do differently - The production checklist (secrets, rate limits, monitoring) Target: Developers who overthink AI projects; shows you can deliver fast — great sales content.