[Documentation](https://fluxnative.app/docs) / Get started

# Start a project

Four ways to begin an app: your idea, a design (Figma screens sent with the plugin, or images), a template, or an Expo app you already have.

![The dashboard: the brief box with its image button, Templates in the sidebar, and Import an existing Expo app under the box](https://fluxnative.app/guide-media/start-a-project.b3a60ff3.webp)

Start from a brief, from screenshots, from a template, or from your own Expo app.

## Pick a starting point

| Start from | Best when | Credits |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Your idea** | You know what the app does. | Spent on generation |
| **A design** | The screens are already designed, in Figma or as images. | Spent on generation |
| **A template** | A finished app close to yours exists. See [Templates](https://fluxnative.app/docs/templates). | None |
| **An existing Expo app** | You have the code. Paid plans. See [Import an existing Expo app](https://fluxnative.app/docs/import-expo-app). | None to import |

## From your idea

1. On the dashboard, write the brief in the message box. Attach images with **+**; **Style** picks a look and brand colour.
2. Click **Build my app**. A short brief, or a first app's brief under 160 characters, shows 4 versions under the box (turn on **Plan first** to see them every time): pick one, or click **Use my words**.
3. The confirm lists the journeys the version plans and what the first build usually costs; click **Build it**.

The first build makes the app's foundation and its main journey, then goes on to the other journeys one after another: the card above the chat's message box shows which journey is being built, and the preview shows each screen as it lands. Click **Stop** beside the message box to end the chain and keep changing what is there; when credits run out, it pauses with what it built working.

A new account lands on the dashboard too. A prompt typed on the website before signing up waits in its message box with its versions or its confirm open; nothing builds until you click **Build it**. For a guided start, click **Step by step** under the versions: **Idea**, **Details** (who it is for, must-haves, where data lives) and **Look & build**.

## From a design

- **In Figma:** open the **+** menu in the dashboard's message box and choose **Import from Figma**, pair the FluxNative plugin with the code it shows, and check the screens to send (12 per import on Free, 60 on paid plans). Confirm them in FluxNative, then send your brief. The plugin is a manual install in Figma Desktop.
- **As images:** export each screen as PNG and attach the images to the brief or to a chat message, up to 4 per message. Say which screen each is and where its buttons lead.

See [Build from a Figma design](https://fluxnative.app/docs/figma).

## Good to know

- Free includes 100 credits to start and 500 more when your first build step ends, each valid for 30 days: a first look at a simple app. A new app's first build usually takes 500 to 1,500 credits on Standard and each further journey 600 to 900, so a full first version usually needs Creator or a credit pack. Free can buy credit packs (from 2,000 for $6) to keep building; builds and taking the source out still need a plan.
- The plan limits how many projects can be active in the organization.
- The assistant names the app from the brief. Rename it from the project bar.

## Related

[Write better prompts](https://fluxnative.app/docs/writing-prompts) · [Work with the assistant](https://fluxnative.app/docs/work-with-the-assistant)

Previous: [How FluxNative works](https://fluxnative.app/docs/how-it-works) · Next: [Import an existing Expo app](https://fluxnative.app/docs/import-expo-app)

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Four ways to begin an app: your idea, a design (Figma screens sent with the plugin, or images), a template, or an Expo app you already have.

Page: https://fluxnative.app/docs/start-a-project