You ask the computer for something simple.
And instead of a perfectly reasonable cup of tea, you get… a lukewarm smoothie in a soup bowl with a garnish of CSS errors.
That is sometimes what it feels like to ask AI for “a quick widget.”
You might give it what sounds like an easy request:
“Make me a homepage widget that shows recent discussions.”
Seems simple enough, right?
But without context, the AI has to guess. It may guess the wrong framework, invent some fun API endpoints, use unsupported code patterns, skip accessibility, forget mobile layouts, or hand you three tiny code snippets that are technically “helpful” but impossible for a non-developer to use.
That is where the new Vanilla Widget Builder AI Handoff Guide comes in.
Think of the handoff guide as the book of context for your replicator. It tells the AI what kind of environment it is working in, which Vanilla tools it can use, how Widget Builder expects code to be structured, when to use a premade widget starting point, when to default to a Custom Widget, and how to return code that a community manager can actually paste into the right tabs.
You do not need to explain React, TypeScript, APIv2, scoped CSS, or custom option patterns from scratch. The guide gives the AI that context so you can describe the widget in normal human language.
Something like:
“I want a sidebar widget that shows five recent discussions from our Product Feedback category, with a custom title and a View All link.”
Much better than:
“Please generate a React TypeScript component using Vanilla injectables, APIv2, query caching, scoped CSS, accessible heading labels, configurable props, and responsive layout behavior.”
Nobody wants to say that before coffee.
What the handoff guide does
The handoff guide gives your AI tool a set of guardrails before it starts building. It explains that Widget Builder uses specific supported tools, including React, TypeScript, JSX, @vanilla /injectables/Utils, and @vanilla /injectables/Components. It also tells the AI to provide full replace-in-place code for the index.tsx and styles.css tabs so community managers are not left assembling tiny code fragments by hand.
The goal is simple: help the AI produce a widget response that is safer, clearer, and easier to test.
Upload the guide before asking for a widget
Before asking AI to create a Vanilla widget, upload the Vanilla Widget Builder AI Handoff Guide into the conversation.
Then start describing the widget that you're imagining. Already built into the AI Handoff guide are some prompts to get it started (it knows it's working with Vanilla, it knows it's using Widget Builder, it knows all that basic stuff) - you just need to get it started. Once it's going, there are other uploaded prompts in the file to guide it along the way and for it to tell you what it needs or what you should do next.
I suggest kicking things off with a prompt like this:
Use the uploaded Vanilla Widget Builder AI Handoff Guide as your source of truth.
I want to build a Widget Builder widget that:
[describe what the widget should do]
The widget should include the following:
[describe any appearance particularities that you have for the widget. If you upload screenshots, mention that here to build context]
The widget should be configurable by community managers with:
[titles, labels, URLs, category IDs, item limits, toggles, images, etc. - these are custom options that the AI can make available for when you're configuring the widget in the Layout Editor. This is probably the most optional part of the prompt - the AI is prompted to suggest custom options that seem useful in the context of your widget ]
Please recommend the best Widget Builder starting point first, then provide full replace-in-place code for index.tsx and styles.css
That prompt gives the AI the mission. The handoff guide gives it the ship’s computer.
Add the API file when the widget needs community data
Some widgets are mostly static. A welcome banner, featured links block, or call-to-action card may not need live data from Vanilla.
But if your widget needs to show discussions, comments, categories, badges, users, groups, articles, analytics, or other community data, give the AI one more file: Vanilla API.json.
You do not need to paste the whole API document into your prompt. Just upload it alongside the handoff guide and tell the AI to use it before writing API code.
I also uploaded Vanilla API.json. Search that file before choosing API endpoints, fields, parameters, request bodies, or response shapes. Do not invent API details. If the API file does not include enough information, ask me for a sample API response.
That one sentence can save you from a surprising amount of “confidently wrong” code.
Ask the AI to choose the starting point first
The handoff guide also tells the AI not to jump straight into code.
First, it should recommend the best Widget Builder starting point.
A good recommendation would look something like:
Recommended starting point: Custom Widget
Reason: This request needs a filtered API-driven list, custom display logic, and configurable options.
Fallback: Use Custom Widget if a premade Discussion List starting point does not expose the needed data or behavior.
Sometimes a premade widget or fragment is the right fit. Sometimes it is not. When no premade option clearly matches the request, the safe default is Custom Widget.
Ask for custom options
Custom options make widgets much friendlier for community managers. Instead of editing code later, you can configure fields like:
- Widget title
- Button label
- Button URL
- Category ID
- Number of items
- Image
- Layout style
- Show or hide metadata
A helpful AI response should tell you exactly which custom options to add in Widget Builder, using a format like:
1. Field Label: Widget Title
API Label: title
Field Type: Text
Required: No
2. Field Label: Number of Items
API Label: itemLimit
Field Type: Number
Required: No
3. Field Label: Show Author
API Label: showAuthor
Field Type: Checkbox
Required: No
Then the code should actually use those options safely, with fallback values in case a field is left blank.
Keep in mind that this isn't a section that you can easily copy-paste straight into the widget. You will have to navigate to the Custom Options tab in the Widget Builder and add the options you want to see.
Limitations
Something to keep in mind is that while this guide can really level up an LLM's ability to make widgets for you, if you're trying to setup something that only works for specific roles or only when in a specific category, you may need to give the AI a little extra information - specifically a categoryID or roleID.
A little cheat code to get that information fast for multiple categories or roles is to navigate to that page in your Dashboard and add .json to the end of the URL.
Dashboard JSON Directory (just add right after your community domain)
Roles: /dashboard/role.json
Categories: /vanilla/settings/categories.json
Ranks: /settings/ranks.json
Badges: /badge/all.json
The information that comes back in that JSON will give you (and your LLM) any information it needs to help identify specific community identifiers.
Troubleshooting
No matter how long I spend on building out this guide, there are always going to be errors. The great news here is that the Widget Builder is really good at finding those errors before any code is actually committed, so if you copy some code into Widget Builder and you see this angry little ❗️:
Hover over it with the mouse and it will bring up the full error. Take a screenshot with that error in the frame:
And upload it straight to the LLM that you're chatting with. It is pretty rare that an AI isn't able to figure out one of these errors.
The Handoff Guide has a prompt in it so if it knows you're troubleshooting, it will provide full TSX and CSS files (depending on what needs to be fixed), so all you have to do is delete everything you had in the Widget Builder file previously and replace it with the updated file that the AI supplies.
Troubleshooting errors during custom widget development is outside the scope of Vanilla Support. If you are hitting a significant blocker, you should reach out to your team's technical resources.
Final Checklist
Before pasting AI-generated code into Widget Builder, go through this check list to make sure you have everything. The prompt included in the handoff guide should help you fill this out:
[ ] Recommended starting point
[ ] Reason for that starting point
[ ] Fallback if the starting point is unavailable
[ ] Full code for the index.tsx tab
[ ] Full code for the styles.css tab
[ ] Custom options to add, if applicable
[ ] Loading, empty, and error states for API-driven widgets
[ ] Accessible markup
[ ] Responsive styling
[ ] Security and InfoSec checklist
[ ] Notes about what to test before publishing
That checklist matters because Widget Builder is powerful. It can create polished, reusable experiences, but it is still real code running in your community.
Use that power responsibly.
Keep the technical load light
You do not have to become a developer to use AI effectively with Widget Builder.
Your job is to describe the outcome:
“I want a homepage card that promotes our upcoming event.”
“I want a sidebar widget that shows helpful onboarding links.”
“I want to show the newest unanswered questions in this category.”
The handoff guide’s job is to translate that request into the technical expectations the AI needs.
The AI’s job is to return something you can paste, configure, test, and review.
Everybody stays on their part of the bridge.
Learn more
For the official Widget Builder docs, start here:
If you're feeling especially adventurous, check out this guide:
Final Thought
AI can be a great assistant for Widget Builder, but it needs the right context.
Without the handoff guide, asking for a widget can feel like asking the replicator for tea and getting soup.
With the guide, you are giving the AI the recipe, the kitchen rules, the approved ingredients, and the serving instructions.
That does not mean you should skip review or testing. Always test on staging, check the output carefully, and make sure the widget behaves the way you expect. If you aren't sure, talk to a technical resource on your team.
But with the right handoff, your AI helper is much more likely to deliver:
Instead of:
“Here is a navbar made of hot banana.”
One More Final Thought
There are a lot of different versions of LLMs and they are constantly being iterated upon. I've tested this guide against a lot of random little widget ideas with Claude and ChatGPT, and it's been pretty successful. That said, I can not predict how any AI Bot will interpret your widget prompt or how the next update may change the behavior of an LLM that I previously understood . You should approach this task with patience and the expectation that you may not get it on the first try.
Practice makes perfect.
Let us know in the comments if this guide helps you out and tells what you're planning on building first!
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Files Provided In This #TipTuesday:
