Shipd
Codebase-aware

The codebase-aware AI app builder

Other AI builders start a new app. Shipd joins the one you already have.

Connect a GitHub repository and Shipd reads your architecture, components, and conventions before it writes a line. Then it builds with them and sends the work back as a pull request you review. Not a rewrite.

Free to start. No credit card.

architecture brief 
$ shipd explore acme/web

✓ Framework   Next.js (App Router)
✓ Components  8 detected · Button, Card, Nav
✓ Tokens      Tailwind config + theme
✓ Fit mode    Vendor. Reuse real components

Ready. New code will match this architecture.
What codebase-aware means

It studies your code before it writes any.

Most AI app builders are great at starting from nothing. Point them at a real codebase and they tend to ignore its structure, or regenerate over it. Shipd reads three things first, so what it writes looks like your code and not a generic scaffold dropped on top.

Your architecture

How the app is laid out and which patterns it already uses for routing, state, and data, so new code lands where your team would put it.

Your components and tokens

Naming, styling approach, and the design system you already have. New screens are built from your Button and your Card, with your colours and spacing.

Your framework and stack

Shipd works in the stack the repo already uses and follows its conventions, instead of dropping a second scaffold on top of the first.

How it works

Four steps, and you merge the result.

The same loop whether you want a single component or a whole new section of the product.

  1. 01

    Connect your repo

    Install the Shipd GitHub App on the repository you choose, or upload a ZIP. An agent explores the code and writes an Architecture Brief before anything is generated.

  2. 02

    Describe the change

    Ask for a feature, a page, or a fix in plain English, the way you would brief a colleague who has already read the code.

  3. 03

    Watch it build live

    Real code runs in a live preview as it is written. Not a mockup, not a snippet you paste in yourself.

  4. 04

    Review the pull request

    The work arrives as a pull request with only the files that changed. Merge it, request changes, or keep going with another prompt.

Choose how closely it hugs your code.

Three fit modes, picked per build.
style-match
Style-match
Fresh code that looks and reads like yours, without importing your components.
vendor
Vendor
Imports and reuses your real components, so the output drops straight into your app.
repo
Repo
Generates against the whole repository, wiring into your existing modules and structure.
Early access

The Forward Engineer: an AI engineer that works inside your repo.

Other builders generate code and hope. Kai clones your repository into a cloud sandbox, runs your real app, makes the change while you watch, proves it with your own checks, and hands it to a reviewer before a pull request ever reaches you.

Request early access
Your real stack, runningKai works inside a cloud sandbox that runs your actual project, frontend and backend, so the preview is your app and not an approximation of it.
Your own checks, not vibesBefore anything is proposed, Kai runs the project's own build and checks, and confirms the app still responds.
A second pair of eyesSam, the reviewing engineer, reads the diff before the pull request opens. Only the files Kai touched are included.
Work from your backlogLabel a GitHub issue shipd, add a task, or ask in chat. Each becomes a task that ends in a reviewed pull request.
Under the hood

Real engineering, not keyword search.

What makes the brief accurate, and what keeps the pull requests clean as your main branch moves.

Agentic exploration

A tool-using agent navigates the repo the way an engineer does, following imports and reading the files that matter.

Code-specialised retrieval

Your code is embedded with Voyage voyage-code-3 into a pgvector index, so the right files reach every generation.

Architecture Brief

A short, structured summary of framework, components, tokens, and fit mode that steers every build toward your conventions.

Stays in sync

Freshness checks spot when main has moved, and pull requests carry only the delta, so nothing you pushed since gets reverted.

steven-tey/precedent Next.js · App Router 8 components detected 79 chunks indexed Retrieval-ready
Comparison

Shipd vs. Lovable, Bolt, and v0 on an existing codebase.

All four can connect to a repository. The difference is what happens before the code is written, and how the change reaches you.

 
Shipd
Lovable
Bolt
v0
Reads the architecture before generating
Yes. An agent explores the repo and writes an Architecture Brief
GitHub two-way sync, no architecture analysis
GitHub import, no architecture analysis
Codebase import, no architecture analysis
Builds with your own components
Yes. Vendor mode imports and reuses them
Generic scaffold components
Generic scaffold output
shadcn/ui components
Existing stacks
The repo’s own stack; new apps in React, Vue, Svelte, or vanilla JS
Vite + React/TypeScript projects
JavaScript projects in the browser
Next.js centred
How changes reach your repo
A pull request with only the changed files
Two-way sync with GitHub
Commits as you work
A branch per chat, merged by pull request
Checked before you see it
Review-and-repair pass; the Forward Engineer runs your own build
Raw generation
Raw generation
Agentic browser testing
Bring a project from another builder
Yes. Lovable, Bolt, or v0 via GitHub or ZIP
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Checked against each product’s public documentation, September 2026. In depth: Shipd vs Lovable, Shipd vs Bolt.new, Shipd vs v0, and the four-way comparison.

Migrating

Already building in Lovable, Bolt, or v0? Don’t start over.

Connect that project’s GitHub repository, or upload a ZIP. Your real code and assets load straight into the Shipd editor, and you carry on with a codebase-aware workflow instead of abandoning the work.

How migration works
Connect the GitHub repo
Or upload a ZIP
Keep building the app you have
Who it’s for

Built for code that already exists.

If your project has outgrown a blank template, this is the workflow for the next stage.

Developers extending a real product

You have a codebase with history, tests, and opinions. You want help adding to it, not a prototype to port by hand.

Teams with a design system

Your tokens and components exist for a reason. The AI should respect them, and your reviewers should see a normal pull request.

Anyone who has hit the wall

The Lovable, Bolt, or v0 project that outgrew a blank-template workflow. Bring it over and keep building the app you already have.

Frequently asked questions

What does codebase-aware mean in an AI app builder?

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It means the builder reads and understands your existing code before it generates anything: the architecture, the components, and the conventions. Shipd explores a connected repository, writes an Architecture Brief, and generates code that fits that brief, then sends it back as a pull request.

Lovable, Bolt, and v0 connect to GitHub too. What is different?

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All four can work with an existing repository. The difference is what happens before code is written. Shipd explores the codebase first, records its framework, components, and tokens in an Architecture Brief, and can reuse your real components instead of scaffold ones. With the Forward Engineer, it also runs your project’s own checks and has a second agent review the change before the pull request opens.

What is the Forward Engineer?

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An AI engineer, Kai, that works on your connected repository inside a cloud sandbox running your real stack. You give it a task in chat, in the task queue, or by labelling a GitHub issue shipd. Kai edits the code while you watch the live preview, runs the project’s own build and checks, and a reviewing agent reads the diff before a pull request with only the changed files opens. It is in early access; request access through the contact page.

Does Shipd overwrite my existing code?

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No. For a connected GitHub repository, changes arrive as a pull request that you review and merge yourself, and pull requests carry only the files that changed. Pull request mode is on by default. For a project imported as a ZIP or from another builder, every change is saved as a version you can restore.

Can I use Shipd with a project I started in another AI app builder?

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Yes. Connect the GitHub repository of a Lovable, Bolt, or v0 project, or upload a ZIP, and your real code and assets load into the Shipd editor so you keep building instead of starting over.

What frameworks does Shipd support?

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New apps can be built in React, Vue, Svelte, or vanilla JavaScript, with an optional generated backend in Node.js, Python, C#, or Java. On a connected repository, Shipd works in the stack the repository already uses and follows its conventions.

What access does Shipd need, and what happens to my code?

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You install the Shipd GitHub App only on the repositories you choose. Shipd reads that code to explore it and to build a private search index for your organisation. In the Forward Engineer sandbox, commands run as an unprivileged user, the sandbox never holds a token that can write to GitHub, and secrets you add are encrypted and masked in all output.

How much does it cost?

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You can start free with 100k tokens a month and no credit card. Codebase-aware builds are part of the Codebase-Aware plan at $76 a month with 8M tokens, which also includes QA test generation. The Forward Engineer is in early access.

Point it at your repo.

See your Architecture Brief and your first codebase-aware pull request. Free to start.

Further reading: What codebase-aware AI generation actually means · Staying in sync with your repo · AI that understands your codebase