In my last post, From Three Weeks with AI CLI to Starting Fresh: My Next Phase, I talked about stepping back, resetting expectations, and moving toward a more deliberate, slice-by-slice way of working with AI tools.

I expected that “next phase” to start with a brand-new project.

That didn’t happen.

Instead, I went deep on lehi31.com — a real site, with real users, real constraints, and zero tolerance for breaking things just to experiment.

And honestly? That turned out to be the more important next step.

The Reality: Shipping Instead of StartingLink to heading

Rather than spinning up something new, I spent the last stretch doing unglamorous but meaningful work:

• polishing existing features
• hardening permissions and auth
• fixing edge cases users actually hit
• improving navigation, layout, and admin UX
• turning half-finished ideas into complete, survivable features

None of this fits neatly into a “new project” announcement — but all of it made the product better.

What Actually ShippedLink to heading

Recurring Events Became a Real FeatureLink to heading

Recurring events moved from “mostly works” to intentionally designed:

• planned and refactored repeat logic
• migrations for excluded dates
• safer update and delete behavior
• protections against accidental deletes
• collapsing and grouping events by week/month
• clone-to-past-events flows
• unit tests around deletion edge cases

This wasn’t flashy, but it was foundational. The calendar is now something you can trust.

Permissions and Roles Grew UpLink to heading

A big chunk of work went into pulling permissions out of ad-hoc app logic and into the database, where they belong:

• backend migrations for roles
• RLS fixes
• UI updates to reflect real permission state
• removing feature flags that were no longer serving a purpose

That shift alone made the admin surface calmer and more predictable — fewer “why can I see this?” moments.

Auth and User Management Became OperableLink to heading

This is the kind of work you only appreciate once users rely on your app:

• session expiry logout handling
• admin/manage users UI
• password reset without third-party gymnastics
• email verification fixes and tests
• switching from SendGrid to Resend to simplify email flows
• fixing permission caching issues between DB and local state

None of this is exciting in isolation. Together, it makes the site run.

Navigation and Layout Got the Attention It NeededLink to heading

I also spent time on things that don’t show up in commit stats but absolutely show up in daily use:

• navigation hierarchy cleanup
• clearer page separation (lesson schedules, assignments, etc.)
• mobile breakpoints that actually work
• more fluid desktop layouts
• max-width constraints that make content readable

The site feels less like a collection of pages and more like a coherent tool now.

Challenges, Goals, and the “Actual Product Surface”Link to heading

Features like goals, temple tracking, and the BOM reading challenge evolved rapidly:

• filtering to show only relevant/current items
• archive and delete safety rules
• root-only destructive actions
• anonymous posting fixes
• iterating on what deserved its own page vs living on the home view

Some things were added. Some were simplified. One page was removed entirely.

That’s real product work: learning what sticks and cutting what doesn’t.

What This Taught Me About AI-Assisted DevelopmentLink to heading

This phase still validated the ideas from my last post — just in a different way than I expected.

• Slice-by-slice still works, but the slices weren’t new features — they were production hardening tasks.
• AI helped most with small, bounded changes, reasoning through edge cases, and keeping momentum during boring work.
• The win wasn’t “look how much code I generated.” The win was shipping safely, repeatedly, without burning out or breaking users.

In other words: the tooling mattered less than the discipline.

What’s NextLink to heading

Because of this work, lehi31.com is now in a place where:

• new features are easier to add
• permissions are predictable
• auth flows don’t require fear
• UI changes don’t cascade into chaos

That’s a better foundation than any half-finished new project would’ve been.

When I do start something fresh again, it’ll be because there’s a clear slice worth building, not just because it feels like the “next thing” I should do.

If the last post was about resetting expectations, this one is about accepting reality:

Sometimes the next phase isn’t starting over. Sometimes it’s finishing what actually matters.