What Is an MVP? Build the Core First, Then Add Features
An MVP is the smallest version of an app that people can already use. Here's how to define it, build it with AI and create the first version.
Overview & context
An MVP (minimum viable product) is the smallest version of an app that people can actually use, and the one you test to see whether it's worth continuing. In software it means the product, not the sports award for the most valuable player. When you build an MVP with AI, the assistant tends to add more than you asked for, so decide up front what belongs in the first version and park the rest. This article shows how to scope and create an MVP.
1. What is an MVP
An MVP is the smallest version of a product that solves one problem for one typical user. According to Wikipedia, the term was popularized by Steve Blank and Eric Ries. The point of an MVP is to get it in front of users as soon as possible, and to learn from how they behave what the app really needs.
Minimum doesn't mean unfinished. An MVP has to work, it just can't do as much yet. For example, a room booking app should in its first version only book and cancel a room, without a mobile app, registration and other extras.
2. MVP vs. prototype vs. version 1.0
A prototype shows an idea or a design, an MVP already works for real users and version 1.0 is the first version you release as stable. They differ mainly in what you want to find out and who uses the app.
| Prototype | MVP | Version 1.0 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it tests | Whether the idea or design makes sense | Whether the app solves the problem | Whether the app is ready for all users |
| Works with real data | Not necessarily | Yes, for the main scenario | Yes, for all planned scenarios |
| Who uses it | You and a few people you show it to | The first real users | Everyone |
3. MVP development: what goes into the first version
Only features without which the main scenario can't be completed belong in an MVP. Everything else waits for later versions. Write the result into the spec so your AI assistant sees it too, ideally with the PRD template: main scenarios go into Main scenarios, parked items into Out of scope for version one and the finish line into Done when.
- 1
Pick one user and one problem
Write one sentence on who will use the app and what costs them time or causes trouble today. If you need two sentences, you're scoping more than an MVP.
- 2
Describe the main scenario
List the steps from opening the app to the result. For room booking it's: pick a day, pick a free time, confirm.
- 3
Keep only what the scenario needs
For every idea, ask whether the scenario can be completed without it. If it can, park it.
- 4
Write down what you parked
Put everything you cut into Out of scope for version one. The assistant then sees what it shouldn't add, and you have a list of ideas for later versions.
- 5
Define when the MVP is done
Write a few checkable conditions, for example "a user books a free slot and gets a confirmation email". The MVP is done once they're met.
4. How to create an MVP with AI
You assemble the MVP with AI one step of the main scenario at a time and try the result after each step. AI tools such as Lovable, Bolt or Cursor tend to add features you didn't ask for. Every such feature has to be tested and maintained, which complicates releasing the MVP.
So add a rule to the spec that the assistant doesn't add features outside it and proposes a plan before a larger change and waits for your confirmation. Keep the source code in a repository outside the tool where it's built, and keep service keys in the platform's secret variables, as the article on the .env file explains. For an overview of what else to keep with an AI-built app, read how to build an app with AI.
5. How to record the MVP as version one
Give the finished MVP a version number and write down what it contains. Under Semantic Versioning, 0.y.z versions are for initial development and 1.0.0 marks the first stable release, so you can ship the MVP as 0.1.0 and call it 1.0.0 once the app is ready for everyone. The article on app versioning helps you pick a scheme.
In AboutTheApp, open the Product versions window with the versions icon on the app's card and click Add version. You enter the version number and the changes in this version, where basic Markdown works. A new version starts as private. Set current makes it the current version, and clicking the eye icon makes it public. The About page shows public versions in the Product Versions tab.
6. How to add features after the MVP
After the MVP is out, add features based on what users actually use and ask for, not on the order of your idea list. The parked features from Out of scope for version one are your pool to pick from.
Release each added feature as a new version with short notes, as the release notes template shows. A version history helps most with AI-built apps: fixing one issue sometimes brings back an earlier one, and the history tells you which version still worked.
Frequently asked questions
What is an MVP?
An MVP is a minimum viable product: the smallest version of an app that people can already use and that shows whether it solves a real problem. In software it has nothing to do with the sports award for the most valuable player.
How long does MVP development take?
It depends on the scope, not on the tool. You control the time by limiting the MVP to one user scenario and parking everything the scenario can do without.
What's the difference between an MVP and a prototype?
A prototype shows an idea or a design and doesn't have to work with real data. An MVP works for the main scenario and real users use it.
What features should an MVP include?
Only those without which the main scenario can't be completed. If the scenario works without a feature, it belongs in a later version.
Can I build an MVP with AI?
Yes. AI assistants and tools like Lovable, Bolt or Cursor can produce a first version quickly. Give them a spec that lists the parked features and make sure they don't add anything extra.
What version number should an MVP have?
Under Semantic Versioning, 0.y.z versions are for initial development, so you can label the MVP 0.1.0. Version 1.0.0 marks the first stable release.
How do I record MVP versions in AboutTheApp?
In the Product versions window, click Add version, enter the version number and the changes, and set it as current. A new version is private by default, and you make it public with the eye icon.
In short
An MVP is the smallest version of an app that works for the main scenario. Scope it in the spec, build it step by step, record it as the first version and add further features as new versions.
AboutTheAppWant a version history from your first MVP?
Create a free app in AboutTheApp and record versions with release notes from the very first one.