Event App Builder Start setup →

A guide for event organizers · built with Claude

Your event, in one app on every phone

Claude builds a polished event guide that attendees open from a QR code and install on their phone. It covers the agenda, speakers, venue, logistics and, if you want them, live announcements, a photo wall and an AI assistant. You choose the features. Claude explains what each one needs before anything is built.

▶See it first: try the live demoA made-up event with every feature on. Open it on your phone and add it to your home screen 1What does the finished app look like?Example screens, and which option includes each one 2What do I need to host it?Any website for the basics; a free Cloudflare account for live features; a paid Anthropic account for the AI 3How does setup work, and what can I choose?The full menu, and every setup step in order →Ready? Start by installing the skillThen answer the setup form, export a config file and give it to Claude. No prompt to write.
The demo app's Home screen: the event header, a live announcement and a countdown card

Try it now · no sign-up

Open the live demo on your phone

The Brightmere Partner Forum is a made-up three-day partner event at a Hawaii resort, with every feature switched on, a castaway-themed agenda and a cast of entirely fictional people. Tap around, rate a session, post an announcement as the coordinator. Nothing you do there is saved or sent anywhere.

Open the demo app →

QR code that opens the demo appOn a laptop?
Point your phone's camera at the code to open the demo there, where it's meant to be used.

Make it an app in 10 seconds

  1. iPhone or iPad (Safari)Tap the Share button, then Add to Home Screen.
  2. Android (Chrome)Tap the ⋮ menu, then Install app or Add to Home screen.
  3. Windows or Mac (Chrome or Edge)Click the install icon at the right end of the address bar.

Not sure? The app shows these steps for your own phone: tap Use it like an app on its Home screen.

The demo app's install help, showing the steps for the phone it's opened on
Built in

Install help

Every app walks attendees through it on their own phone.

Works offline

The agenda, map, speakers, notes and contacts load from the phone, so a dead ballroom or weak resort Wi-Fi doesn't matter. Live updates catch up when the signal returns.

Opens like an app

Full screen, no browser bars or tabs to hunt for, and it opens straight to "happening now".

Its own icon

One tap from the home screen, next to the airline and hotel apps, instead of buried in an email.

Always current

When you change something, phones get a "new version ready" prompt. No app store, no reinstall.

1 · The finished product

What attendees get

It's a web app, so there's nothing to download from an app store. Attendees scan a QR code, tap "Add to Home Screen", and it behaves like a native app: full screen, its own icon, and it still works with no signal. These are real screens from the live demo. Your event's look and content replace them.

The demo agenda: day 2 sessions with times, rooms and speakers
Every option

Agenda

Day by day, with a live "now" marker, rooms, speakers, and add to Outlook or phone calendar.

A breakout block on the demo agenda: choose 1 of 3, each option with its room and a Tech, Sales or Leadership label
Every option

Breakouts

A keynote, then 2–3 breakouts to choose from: one stop on the agenda, each option with its room and type. People mark their pick, and Home shows it.

Session search on the demo agenda, filtered to the Sales type, with two results
Every option

Find a session

Search every day by title, speaker or room, and filter by type, like Tech or Sales.

The interactive resort map with pins for rooms, dining and activities
Agenda guide

Venue map

An interactive map with pins, hours and directions. The simple agenda uses location cards instead.

The attendee directory with illustrated avatars, titles and companies
Networking guide

Directory

Everyone at the event with photos, bios and topics to ask about. Star the people you want to meet.

Suggested connections: people worth meeting, each with a reason
Networking + connections

Worth meeting

Three people each attendee should meet, with a reason. Claude proposes them and you approve every one.

The Info tab with a live announcement banner at the top
Live event

Announcements

Your host staff post a banner to every phone, as info or urgent, from their own phone.

The session rating sheet with stars, two questions and a follow-up option
Live event

Session ratings

Stars, two short questions, and "ask the presenter to follow up". Anonymous unless they ask for a follow-up.

The Ask tab with a question and a demo reply
AI add-on

AI assistant

Answers from your event's own information first: schedule, venue, who's who. In the demo it explains what it would do.

The photo wall gallery with illustrated event scenes
Add-on

Photo wall

Attendees share photos to one gallery. Your team can remove any photo.

The personal recap with notes, starred people and follow-ups
Agenda guide

Your recap

Everything each person noted and starred, ready to download after the event.

Coming next: phone alerts and live polls

Two new add-ons for Live event, fully specced and in the setup form. They aren't in the demo yet, so these are design previews: the demo's own screens with the new parts added, using the exact wording the specs give. Choosing either one means Claude builds it for your event, with its own testing.

A phone lock screen with one notification from the event app: a breakout moves to another room at 10:20
Design preview

Alerts on the lock screen

Tick "Also send to phones" on an announcement and it reaches every phone that turned alerts on, even with the app closed.

The Info tab with the Alerts on this phone card: alerts are on, a switch for session reminders, and Send me a test and Turn off buttons
Design preview

Alerts, their choice

Each attendee turns alerts on from Info, and can get a reminder 10 minutes before sessions they flag. iPhones need the app on the Home Screen.

The team announcement form with Also send to phones ticked, a choice of audience, a lock-screen preview and a line saying 2 of 4 phone alerts are used today
Design preview

Your team sends

One box on the usual announcement form, to everyone or one group. The app holds the line: at most your daily maximum, an hour apart, none overnight unless urgent.

A live session sheet on the Poll tab: a four-choice poll with results bars, percentages and vote counts, and Thanks, your vote is in
Design preview

Live polls

Attendees vote from the session card, no second app or QR code. Results appear when the presenter or your team reveals them.

The Questions tab: an ask box, your own question waiting for the host, a pinned question and the top questions with upvote counts
Design preview

Audience Q&A

Anonymous questions and upvotes. In moderated mode your team or the presenter approves each one before the room sees it.

The stage screen for a room's projector: the session title, live poll results with percentages and vote counts, and the pinned question plus the top five questions with vote counts
Design preview Stage screen. Open it on the room's laptop: poll results as they come in and the questions the room cares most about, readable from the back. Free on Cloudflare for a few live sessions a day (about 4 at 120 people); Workers Paid, $5 a month, removes the limit.

Always included

Installs like an app, works offline, a live "happening now" card, add-to-calendar, dark mode, large tap targets, and a "new version ready" prompt when you update it mid-event.

Try the demo

Open the live demo app on your phone: a made-up partner forum at a Hawaii resort, with every feature switched on. Nothing you do there is saved or sent anywhere. It's modeled on TD SYNNEX's Executive Summit guide.

Your look, not ours

Keep the TD SYNNEX look, pick a ready-made theme, or bring your own colors and logo. Or just give Claude your website: it pulls your logo and brand colors (and your partners' logos) from official sources and shows you each one, with where it found it, before using it. The setup form shows a live preview, and Claude checks every color for contrast in light and dark mode. For the home-screen icon, jot down an idea (or none) and Claude sketches three concepts that weave your logo and theme together, shown at real phone size, then builds the one you pick.

2 · Minimum requirements

What you need to host it

The app is a single web page. On its own, on any normal website, it already does most things. Some features need a small online service behind it, called a backend. You only set one up if you pick a feature that needs it.

Level 1 · Any website

The page on its own

$0 to run
  • A website that serves files over HTTPS: GitHub Pages, Azure Static Web Apps, Netlify, your IT team's server…
  • You can upload 3 files plus an assets folder
  • Ideally at the site root. A subfolder works with a small adjustment

Covers the agenda, speakers, venue, maps, info, calendar, offline, notes, the recap and suggested connections.

Level 2 · + Free backend

Shared, live features

$0 for most events
  • A free Cloudflare account. Your page doesn't move; it just talks to small Cloudflare functions
  • Someone with Claude Code on a laptop (Node.js and Python) to deploy and run it
  • No card needed. A card is only needed for very large photo walls, and for live polls or phone alerts at larger events

Adds announcements, ratings, photo wall, presenter slides, sign-in across devices, profile photo upload, phone alerts, live polls and Q&A, the event code and PIN sign-in.

Level 3 · + AI

The Claude assistant

~$25–50 per event, prepaid
  • Everything in Level 2
  • An Anthropic API account with a payment method and a spend limit. It's separate from a Claude.ai subscription
  • Open it weeks ahead, because new accounts start with low limits

Adds "Ask the event", "who should I meet" and "find our common ground".

Why some features need a backend

A web page on its own can't do three things: share data between attendees (an announcement, a photo), keep a secret (the AI's key, a team PIN), or enforce a rule (rate limits, "only this presenter can replace this deck"). Every Level 2 and 3 feature exists to do one of those.

Tech tips: the page and its host
  • Files: <event>.html (single self-contained file with inline CSS, JS and fonts), <event>-sw.js (service worker), <event>.webmanifest, and assets/ (icons, map images, QR code).
  • HTTPS is required for the service worker (offline) and install. The service worker registration, its precache list and the manifest use absolute / paths. Serve at the site root, or rewrite those paths for a subfolder. If the manifest file is missing, the page falls back to an inline manifest.
  • Update bar: the page sends a HEAD request to itself about every 20 s while open. It needs the host to send ETag or Last-Modified headers, which almost all hosts do. GitHub Pages caches for 600 s, so a fix can take up to 10 minutes to reach phones.
  • Corporate CMSs and SharePoint usually strip scripts or wrap pages, so they won't work. Use a static host instead. Claude can draft the request to your IT team.
  • The original site runs on GitHub Pages, with Cloudflare handling DNS only (not proxied). The backends run on *.workers.dev on Cloudflare's free plan.
Tech tips: the backend (Cloudflare Workers)
  • Up to four Workers, each a fetch() handler: usage (announcements, feedback, profiles, sign-in, sync, event code, PIN, admin), photos, materials and ai. They share one D1 (SQLite) database. Photo and deck bytes live in Workers KV. Moving them to R2 is a small code change Claude can make for very large photo walls. The usage Worker also carries phone alerts (a Queue and a scheduled job) and live polls when you turn them on.
  • Free-plan limits (reset 00:00 UTC): 100k requests a day for the whole account, across every Worker; Queues 10k operations a day; Cron Triggers 5 per account (the app uses 1); D1 5M rows read and 100k written a day; KV 1,000 writes a day and 1 GB total. Each photo costs 2 KV writes, so plan for about 450 uploads a day without a card. The app's own caps reset at the event's local midnight.
  • CORS: every Worker allows only your site's origins (ORIGINS) and checks Origin and Referer. Two exceptions: the public image route, and file downloads.
  • Secrets go in with npx wrangler secret put and never into the HTML, the repo or chat. Plain settings go in the vars block of wrangler.jsonc, because dashboard edits are wiped on the next deploy.
  • Venue Wi-Fi is one shared IP address. Per-connection caps are deliberately high, and real limits are per device.
  • Some company proxies block *.workers.dev. Test from a company laptop a week ahead. The fix is an allow-list entry, or a custom domain if your domain uses Cloudflare DNS.
  • Not on Cloudflare? Supabase, Azure, Netlify or AWS can host equivalents with porting work, except profile photo upload, which runs only on Cloudflare. Check the function timeout first, because a question can take up to 45 s and a common-ground brief up to 70 s.
Tech tips: secrets, per-event values and data files
  • Secrets, only for the features you turn on:
    • ANNOUNCE_PIN, with PHOTO_PIN set to the same value, because one in-app team PIN is sent to both;
    • ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, plus ANTHROPIC_WORKSPACE_ID only if the key isn't workspace-scoped;
    • GATE_CODE, GATE_SECRET and GATE_CONTENT_KEY for the event code;
    • PIN_PEPPER and ADMIN_PIN for PIN sign-in;
    • VAPID_PRIVATE_KEY for phone alerts, typed straight into the terminal prompt and never changed during the event.
  • Change these for every event:
    • the Worker URLs, and the four production-host flags in the page (TRACK, FB_SEND, MAT_SEND, PROF_SEND), plus the new-build flags (one PROD_HOST, TEAM_SEND, PUSH_SEND, LIVE_SEND) when phone alerts or live polls are on;
    • the localStorage key prefix;
    • ORIGINS;
    • the timezone in each Worker's hstDay(), so daily caps reset at the event's midnight;
    • the ICS UID domain, and every venue-specific word of copy.
  • Data lives in event.json, agenda.json, people.json, places.json and info.json (field formats in references/data-templates.md); the page embeds them as EVENT, AGENDA, PEOPLE, PLACES, INFO, GROUPS and TEAM. The event contact (TEAM) must be yours, never the original's. Then node tools/build-ai-data.js generates:
    • the AI's grounding files;
    • the gitignored private/*.json cards;
    • the roster and speaker maps for the usage and materials Workers;
    • agenda-times.js and live-sessions.js, keyed by session (date, start time and title), for reminders and live polls. Changing a title or start time changes the key, so rebuild and redeploy.
    Re-run it, and redeploy, after any roster change. It needs a sitemap.xml only while the content-library (playbook) block is kept; remove that block for events without one.
  • Operator tools (Python and Node) all need wrangler login, so give two staff access:
    • a live status check;
    • an announcements command line (summit-announce.py, with --push to alert phones);
    • summit-push.py for phone-alert numbers, summit-live-report.py for poll and question results, and make-vapid-keys.mjs to make the alert keys once;
    • feedback and usage reports;
    • sign-in admin: summit-claims.py --reserve-hosts / --reset / --purge.
    Icon and QR generation needs pip install playwright segno pillow.

4 · Security and team tools

Who gets in, who's who, and who's in charge

An event app is a web page, and by default anyone with the link can open it. Two optional locks decide how much that matters for your event, and your host company's staff get team tools on top. You pick them in the setup form's Security and access group.

Default

Open link

Anyone with the link sees the agenda, speakers and, with a directory, names, titles and bios. Right for most agendas. Nothing to set up.

Good forPublic agendas, internal kickoffs, events with no attendee list.
Add-on · free backend

Event code

One shared code, typed once per phone. Until it's right, the page is encrypted, so forwarding the link or reading the page source shows nothing.

StopsSomeone with only the link, search engines and anyone reading the source.Doesn't stopAn attendee sharing the code. It's a lock on the door, not a name badge.
Add-on · free backend

PIN sign-in

Each attendee claims their name with a 4-digit PIN. Notes, starred people and anything personal belong to that person on every device they sign in with.

StopsSomeone signing in as another attendee, rating or messaging as them, or reading their notes.NeedsLive event and a full attendee list.

How claiming your name works, with PIN sign-in

  1. Find your nameTap it in the list and set a 4-digit PIN. This phone is now you.
  2. Add a deviceA laptop or second phone asks for the same PIN.
  3. Taken already?Tap "That wasn't me". Your team gets a red badge, and an email if you set one up.
  4. Show your IDA host checks it in person, resets the name and reads out a one-time code.
  5. You're backEnter the code, set a new PIN. Whoever took the name was signed out at the reset.

Guessing doesn't work: five wrong PINs lock that phone for 15 minutes, and ten in a day pause new sign-ins for that person and alert your team.

Team tools for your host company

Announcements

A banner at the top of every phone, as "info" or "urgent", for 1 to 48 hours. Staff from your host company sign in as themselves, then post or clear it with the shared team PIN. An operator can also post from the command line.

Comes with
Live event, at no extra cost

Phone alerts

When you post an announcement, tick "Also send to phones" to send it to every phone that turned alerts on, or to one audience group. Same team PIN. Alerts stop at your daily maximum.

Comes with
Push notifications (a new build)

Run live polls

In the live sheet's Run segment, staff open, close and reveal polls, approve, hide and pin questions, and open the stage screen. Presenters can run their own session if you choose that.

Comes with
Live polls and Q&A (a new build)

Photo moderation

Signed-in staff see a remove button on every photo, protected by the same team PIN. Removed photos are hidden, not deleted, so a mistake can be undone.

Comes with
The photo wall

Admin panel

In Info, Team tools: open reports, every attendee's sign-in state and devices, and reset, new code, undo (within 30 minutes), release, unpause and sign out a device. Opens only with the admin PIN, on a phone signed in as a host.

Comes with
PIN sign-in

Why announcements are a feature, and the locks are add-ons

Announcements use the backend and sign-in that Live event already sets up, cost nothing extra and are the tool your team uses most on the day, so they're simply part of Live event. The event code and PIN sign-in add a step for every attendee and secrets for you to manage, so you turn them on deliberately.

Your event coordinator is the human backstop

Every help screen points to the coordinator you name in the setup form: the Home help card, the Info tab, the map's help card, "That wasn't me", "Lost your code?" and the AI assistant's "confirm with" answers. Pick someone who'll actually be on site.

Tech tips: what's under the covers
  • Event code. At deploy time, tools/seal-event-app.mjs gzips every inline body script and encrypts it with a random 256-bit AES-GCM key. POST /gate releases that key only for the right code, so the code can't be tested offline against the file. Lockout: 5 wrong tries per device and 60 per connection per 15 minutes; a right code gives the connection count back, so a venue's shared Wi-Fi doesn't lock itself out at check-in. The device keeps an HMAC-signed token and the key for GATE_DAYS (default 30), so the app opens offline. A code checked only in the browser is cosmetic, which is why there isn't one.
  • PINs and codes are stored as HMAC-SHA256(PIN_PEPPER, salt|person|pin), with a random 16-byte salt per person and a pepper that exists only as a Worker secret. A copy of the database alone can't be brute-forced. Nothing is ever stored on the phone except a random 24-character device token, and the server keeps only its SHA-256 hash.
  • Limits are server-side: 5 wrong PINs per device per 15 minutes; 10 per person per 24 hours pauses new sign-ins and files a "guessing" report. A reclaim code lasts 24 hours and is single-use; 10 wrong tries pause code entry for 15 minutes but never burn the code, and an expired code leaves the name reserved, never free, so a squatter can't race for it.
  • Admin sessions last 12 hours and need both the admin PIN and a device bound to a host-group person, so the PIN alone isn't enough. A reset requires the admin to confirm an ID check. Reset, release and sign-out also end any admin session on the affected devices.
  • Team PIN (ANNOUNCE_PIN, with PHOTO_PIN set to the same value) is checked on the server with its own lockout. Announcements are capped at 280 characters. Team writes and admin actions are blocked in rehearsal mode and on preview hosts.
  • Alert emails go through Cloudflare Email Sending, throttled to 1 per person per hour and 20 per hour overall; the in-app badge shows every report and refreshes every 60 seconds.
  • What the locks don't cover: /id and /admin (and, once built, the phone-alert sign-up and live-poll writes) check the gate token. The announcement feed, reading live polls, photos, materials and the AI check only that requests come from your site. Never put anything in the app that would hurt if a guest saw it.
  • Cleanup: on the date you set (default 30 days after the event), tools/summit-claims.py --purge deletes PINs, devices and reports.

5 · Setup, step by step

How to set up your app

You do five things, in this order: install the skill, gather your documents, fill in the setup form, give Claude the file it creates, and review what Claude builds. Install the skill first. The config file from the form only works once Claude has the skill. Here is every step, in order. A simple agenda takes about an afternoon. A full summit app takes a few sessions plus your review time.

Start with step 1: install the skill ↓

Where you work matters

The setup form runs in any browser. For the build, Claude Code on a laptop with Node.js and Python can do everything. The Claude app handles planning, content, venue research and a simple agenda's pages. Deploying a backend (including the AI assistant) and making the home-screen icon and QR code need Claude Code, or a technical colleague who has it.

  1. Install the skill Do this first

    The skill is what teaches Claude to build your app. Install it once, before anything else. Pick the way you'll work with Claude.

    Claude Code (recommended)

    Make an empty folder where your app will live and open Claude Code in it. Then either:

    A. Let Claude install it. Paste this:

    Prompt

    Download https://copilotplaybook.com/assets/downloads/td-synnex-event-app-kit.zip into this folder and unzip it here, so the skill ends up at .claude/skills/td-synnex-event-app. Check that .claude/skills/td-synnex-event-app/SKILL.md is there, confirm the td-synnex-event-app skill is available in this project, and tell me the next step.

    B. Or do it yourself. Download the Claude Code kit and unzip it into that folder. You should see .claude/skills/td-synnex-event-app/SKILL.md, with executive-summit.html and the workers and tools folders next to .claude. Start a new Claude Code session in the folder.

    The kit holds the skill plus the Executive Summit app it builds from. Keep them together, and keep your event's files in the same folder.

    Claude app

    1. Download the skill zip. Don't unzip it.
    2. Open Settings → Capabilities → Skills, choose Upload skill and pick the zip.
    3. Switch it on, and work in a Project for this event.

    Deploying a backend, the event code and PIN sign-in need Claude Code.

    Check it worked

    Prompt

    Is the td-synnex-event-app skill available to you? If it is, tell me what it does and what I should attach first.

    If Claude says no, start a new session in that folder (Claude Code) or check the skill is switched on (Claude app).

    5 minutes

  2. Gather your documents

    Collect what you already have. Don't wait for everything: anything that isn't ready can be marked "Later" in the form and added when it arrives.

    • Agenda: your latest version, with rooms if you have them.
    • Speakers: names, titles, companies, short bios, headshots.
    • Attendee headshots, optional: send the ones you have, or let people add their own in the app with Profile photo upload.
    • Venue: its website link, plus anything the venue sent you: fact sheet, floor plan, property map, welcome letter, BEOs.
    • Attendee list, if you want a directory: name, title, company and group, with emails and phone numbers removed.
    • Your event coordinator: the one person attendees call, text or find on site, with a number and email you're happy to publish.
    • Poll questions, optional: a question and two to six choices for any session you want to run live. Claude never makes these up.
    • Logistics: check-in, what's included, dress, travel and transfers, guests, dietary and cancellations.
    • A location photo you're allowed to use (most venues have a media kit), or Claude can make an illustration.
    • For host and partner knowledge: the hosts who'll fill in a short form, and your Public Signal Brief prompt if you use one.
    • For suggested connections: registration answers (goals, priorities, who they hope to meet), and optionally your own shareable notes.
    • Branding: your logo and two brand colors, or your website address so Claude can find them, or just a ready-made theme. For partner and sponsor logos, attach them or list each company's website and let Claude find them. Have a thought about the app icon? Bring it, even a rough one.

    Before you attach anything

    Black out room rates, minimums and contract pricing in venue documents. Never include sales figures or anything confidential.

    Want the AI assistant?

    Open the Anthropic account now. New accounts start with low limits that take time to grow.

    15–30 minutes

  3. Fill in the setup form

    The setup form walks you through nine short steps: a start page, your event and coordinator, look and brand, features, hosting, venue, people and roles, documents and Claude models, then a review. It only asks what your choices need. When an option needs something you haven't picked, it says why and offers a one-click fix. It warns you if anything looks like a password or confidential figure, and saves your answers in the browser as you go.

    You finish with a checklist

    The last step lists everything you said you'd provide, grouped: what to attach, what comes later, what to confirm, who to line up, which accounts to open and which secrets you'll choose at the terminal. Tick it off as you go, copy it into an email, or print it.

    15–20 minutes

  4. Download your config file

    On the last step, check your plan summary, then click Download to save event-app.config.json. That one file holds every answer. It contains no passwords or keys.

    If Download does nothing

    Some viewers, such as a page shared from Claude, block downloads. Click Copy instead and paste the text into the chat in the next step.

    Keep it handy

    You can load the file back into the form later to change your answers, then download it again.

  5. Give Claude your config file

    With the skill installed (step 1), start a chat in the same place.

    You do

    Open Claude Code in the folder where the app will live (or the Claude app with the skill on). Put event-app.config.json and your documents in that folder (in the Claude app, attach them to the chat), then say:
    Use the td-synnex-event-app skill with my event-app.config.json.

    Claude does

    Reads the file, double-checks your choices against the rules, and scans it for anything sensitive. It doesn't ask you again what you've already answered.

  6. Approve your plan

    Claude does

    Shows a one-page plan: features, hosting, costs, what you'll do yourself and known limits. It asks only about anything missing or conflicting.

    You do

    Answer those few questions and say yes. Nothing is built before you approve the plan.

    5–10 minutes

  7. Review the content and research

    Claude does

    Turns your documents into the app's content, researches the venue, proposes suggested connections if you chose them, and lists anything it couldn't verify.

    You do

    Confirm the unverified items and map pin positions, and approve suggested connections and any research.

  8. Preview the app

    Claude does

    Builds the app and checks it in a browser at phone and desktop sizes, in light and dark mode.

    You do

    Try it on your phone, including rehearsal mode, which shows the app as it will look at any moment of the event.

    Tech tips: rehearsal and checks
    • Add ?now=2027-03-04T09:30 to the URL to see any moment of the event. Analytics, uploads and sign-ins are switched off in rehearsal.
    • The pre-launch checklist covers 44 px tap targets, visible focus rings, reduced motion, an offline cold start, and the update bar after a republish.
    • With the AI on, Claude runs the 38-case audit before launch: 35 questions with facts that must and must not appear, 1 common-ground brief, and 2 attempts to extract the prompt. It costs about 15–25¢ per run.

  9. Set up accounts and publish

    You do

    Create any accounts your plan still needs: a free Cloudflare account, plus the Anthropic account you opened in step 2 if you have the AI. You type passwords, card details and keys yourself. Claude never does.

    Claude does

    Runs the setup commands, connects everything, publishes the app and checks it on the real address. This step needs Claude Code, or a technical colleague who has it.

    Tech tips: the deploy, in order
    • npx wrangler login, then wrangler d1 create and kv namespace create, then apply each schema.sql (always the usage one).
    • Edit ORIGINS, the Worker URLs and the host gates in the page, run node tools/build-ai-data.js, set secrets with wrangler secret put, and wrangler deploy each Worker.
    • With the event code, seal the page with node tools/seal-event-app.mjs on every deploy, and publish only the sealed file.
    • For Anthropic, use a dedicated workspace with a monthly spend limit, and a workspace-scoped key that expires shortly after the event.

  10. Go live, and keep it current

    Claude does

    Hands you a day-of runbook: who posts announcements, how to check health, how to reset a sign-in, and how to switch the AI off. With phone alerts and live polls on, it also covers who may send to phones and your daily maximum, and which stage screen runs in each room and who approves questions.

    You do

    Print the QR code. Then paste every new email or document into the chat as it arrives, right up to the event.

6 · The most useful habit

Keep feeding Claude new information

Event details keep arriving until the doors open: the know-before-you-go email, a revised agenda, a new speaker, the dinner moving, shuttle times. Every time something new comes in, during the build or after launch, paste it into the chat and ask:

"Here's our latest know-before-you-go email. What can you do with this to make the app better?"

Claude pulls out every detail

Arrival times, dress, transport, hotel details, contacts, plan B. Each detail is matched to the right place in the app.

Shows you what's new or conflicting

"The email says doors open at 8:00, the agenda says 8:30. Which is right?" Nothing is overwritten silently.

Leaves out what shouldn't be public

Personal numbers, pricing and internal notes are left out. Wi-Fi passwords and door codes go in only if you say so, because the page can be read by anyone with the link.

Updates and republishes

Once you approve, phones see a "newer version" prompt. Urgent same-day changes can also go in the announcement banner.

The know-before-you-go email usually arrives a few days out, and it carries the most practical detail of anything you'll send. Pasting it is what makes the app a true one-stop shop for the event.

7 · Working with Claude

Six habits that make the build go well

You don't need to know how to "prompt". You need to give Claude the real documents, say what done looks like, and read the plan before you approve it.

1 · Attach the real thing

The agenda spreadsheet, the venue's PDF, the bios as you have them. Word, PDF, Excel, CSV, images and pasted email text all work. In Claude Code, drop files in the project folder and name them; in the Claude app, attach them. Redact pricing and contact details first. If a file won't attach, paste its text.

2 · Say what done looks like

Name the thing, the source and the outcome: "Add the shuttle times from this email to the hotel card, and tell me if they clash with the agenda." Weak: "Fix the hotel." Not sure how to ask? Ask Claude what it needs: "What would you need from me to build the Locations tab?"

3 · Paste new info and ask what it can do with it

One message per new document is fine. Don't wait to batch things. The habit above.

4 · Read the plan before you say yes

The one-page plan (the build manifest) is the contract for everything after it. Check the feature list, where the page will live, who creates which account, and the "known limits" line. Say "change X, then show me the plan again."

5 · Review like an attendee

Open the draft on your phone and look for what an attendee would trip on: a wrong room, a missing dinner address, a misspelled name. Say exactly what you saw: "Day 2 lunch shows the Terrace; it's in Salon B."

6 · Keep the manifest file; start new chats from it

Claude saves the approved plan as event-app-manifest.md in your project (a download in the Claude app). To continue in a new chat, attach it with your latest config and say "Continue the event app from this manifest."

Correcting Claude is normal

If an answer looks wrong, say so and why. The fix is usually one message. For which model does what, see the next section; the short version is: let Claude pick, and tell it if you'd rather it didn't.

8 · Money, accounts and privacy

Costs, accounts and your data

AccountNeeded forCostWho sets it up
A web host (GitHub Pages, Azure Static Web Apps, Netlify, your IT team's server…)The pageUsually freeYou or your IT team. Claude can draft the request
Cloudflare (free plan)Any backend feature$0 for most eventsYou sign up; Claude runs the setup
Cloudflare Workers Paid (optional)Live polls at larger events, phone alerts above about 2,666 phones, very busy photo walls$5 a month, 10M requests includedYou add a card in the dashboard
Anthropic API (platform.claude.com)AI assistant~$0.008 / question
$25–50 typical, prepaid		You create it, add a card and set a spend limit
Domain on Cloudflare DNS + Email SendingOptional sign-in alert emailsFree to your own verified addresses
~$5/mo to email anyone else		Your domain admin
A private repo or folder for the sourceOnly with the event code, if your site is served from a public repoUsually freeYou. Claude sets up the publish step

AI cost, from real usage

At the original ~40-person event, attendees asked about 0.1 questions per person per day. A typical question costs about a penny, mostly web-search fees. Above roughly 250 attendees, Claude grounds the assistant on speakers and hosts only, to keep it in Anthropic's cheaper price tier. A spend limit is the hard stop.

What's public

By default, anything in the page (names, titles, bios, photos) is visible to anyone with the link. The event code keeps it encrypted until someone enters the code, as long as the page's source isn't in a public repo. More on security.

What's private

Host and partner cards never show in the app; only approved entries are used. Your synthesized insights steer matching but are never published. Raw sales or confidential data is never used. The AI doesn't store questions.

Research rules

Claude never researches individual attendees online. Company research is company-level, one company at a time, with your approval. Images are never copied from the web.

Which Claude models do what

Opus, or Fable where available

Venue research, company research, fact-checking and the final first-time-user review. Mistakes here reach attendees, so these steps use the most capable models even if your chat is set lighter.

Sonnet · Haiku

Building the app and its data (Sonnet), and bulk work like turning a spreadsheet into the roster (Haiku). On Pro and Max plans the bigger models use your limits a little faster, so tell Claude if you'd rather keep one model throughout.

Inside your app

The attendee-facing assistant uses Claude Haiku for questions and Sonnet for the common-ground brief, billed to your Anthropic account. It never uses the biggest models, because a room full of people asking at once would multiply cost and wait time.

Tech tips: model routing
  • In Claude Code, the skill runs heavy steps through subagents with an explicit model (opus, fable, sonnet, haiku), whatever model the session uses. In the Claude app, Claude tells you when to switch models in the picker.
  • The skill deliberately doesn't set model: in its frontmatter: that would switch your whole session, and it can break upload to other surfaces.

9 · Quick answers

FAQ and plain-English glossary

Do attendees need to download anything?

No. They scan a QR code or open a link. "Add to Home Screen" gives it an app icon, and it works offline after the first visit. The app's install helper walks people through it on iPhone, Android and desktop.

Can I start simple and add features later?

Yes. The data carries forward, so a simple agenda can become a full guide, and a static guide can gain a backend later.

I only have the Claude app, not Claude Code. Can I still do this?

Planning, content, venue research and a simple agenda's files all work in the Claude app. Deploying backends, the AI assistant, and making the icon and QR files need Claude Code on a laptop, or a technical colleague who has it.

Our website is on a company CMS. Will that work?

Usually not, because CMSs strip scripts. Ask IT for a small static host (Azure Static Web Apps is a natural fit for Microsoft-centric teams), or use free GitHub Pages. Claude can write the request to IT.

Is sign-in secure?

Without PIN sign-in, attendees just pick their name: convenient, but not a password. Turn on PIN sign-in for large or open events. Each person sets a PIN, and your team can restore a name after checking ID. How it works.

What happens to the app after the event?

You choose in the setup form: keep it up, or close it a set number of days after the event or on a date. Before it closes, attendees can download a take-home pack with their recap, the agenda, presenter materials and photos, depending on what you turned on, and a banner can remind them. On the close date the app shows a thank-you screen, and backend data like sign-ins and uploads is deleted.

Can attendees add their own photo?

Yes, if you turn on Profile photo upload (Live event). It's optional for attendees: they can add a headshot from their phone, crop it, and remove it whenever they like. You decide whether their photo can replace one you supplied. Pair it with PIN sign-in so nobody can change someone else's photo.

Who can post announcements?

Staff from your host company who are signed in as themselves and know the team PIN. They post from the Info tab on their phone, and the banner reaches every phone within a minute or so. An operator can also post from the command line.

Do we still need Slido?

Not for polls and Q&A. Live polls and Q&A run inside the app: one QR code, no second app, and the data stays with you. They are a new build, so ask Claude to include them.

Will phone alerts annoy people?

They are capped at your daily maximum (4 by default), sent an hour apart, and nothing goes out between 9 PM and 7 AM unless you mark it urgent. Reminders only go for sessions a person flagged. iPhones need the app on the Home Screen first.

Can I use our own colors and logo?

Yes. Pick a ready-made theme in the setup form, or choose "Your brand" and either enter two colors or have Claude pull them from your website. Attach your logo, or let Claude find it on your website or media kit. Claude uses only official sources, shows you everything it finds with the page it came from, asks you for anything it can't confirm, and adjusts any shade that's too light to read.

What will the app icon look like?

Claude sketches three concepts from your answer in the setup form: your logo blended with the event's theme, a symbol of the place or event, or initials. You see each one at full size and at real home-screen size, on light and dark wallpapers, and pick or ask for changes. Phones round or crop the corners, so the main shape sits in the center, with no more than two or three letters. The icon you approve also becomes the browser tab icon and the badge on your QR code.

What if something changes on the day?

Paste the change into the chat. Claude updates and republishes, and phones get a "newer version" prompt. With Live event, also post an announcement banner from your phone.

Glossary

BackendA small online function that stores shared data, keeps secrets and enforces rules.
Static hostA website that serves files as-is: GitHub Pages, Azure Static Web Apps, Netlify.
Service workerThe small file that makes the app work offline.
ManifestThe file that gives the app its home-screen name and icon.
Cloudflare WorkersCloudflare's free serverless functions, which run the backends.
D1 / KVCloudflare's database / file storage.
Build manifestThe one-page plan you approve before anything is built.
Rehearsal modeOpening the app with ?now= to see any moment of the event.
Know-before-you-goYour pre-event logistics email. Paste it in when it's ready.
Public SignalCompany-level public research that sharpens connections.
RepoA folder of files tracked in Git, often on GitHub. Public repos can be read by anyone.
Sealed pageThe locked copy of the app used with an event code. It stays encrypted until someone enters the code.
Team PINA shared PIN your staff use to post announcements and, with those features on, remove photos, send phone alerts and run live polls. Different from the admin PIN.
Event codeOne shared code attendees type once per phone. It keeps the page encrypted until it's right.
PIN sign-inEach attendee sets a 4-digit PIN when they first pick their name; a second device needs it.
Reclaim codeA one-time code your team gives someone after checking their ID, so they can take back their name.
Admin PINA separate staff PIN that opens Team tools, Attendee sign-ins.
Event coordinatorThe on-site contact every help screen in the app points to.
Host groupYour own staff group (e.g. TD SYNNEX). Its signed-in members get the team tools.
R2 / Workers PaidCloudflare's larger file storage (a small code change to switch to) / its $5-a-month plan. Only needed for very busy photo walls, and for live polls or phone alerts at larger events.
Stage screenA big-screen view of the poll results and top questions, opened on a laptop in the room.
VAPID keysThe pair of keys that lets your app send phone alerts. Claude makes them once; the private one is never shared or changed during the event.
WranglerCloudflare's command-line tool, which Claude uses to set up and deploy the backends.