How to use Claude to improve an artist inventory app
An author used Claude Code to improve an existing artist inventory app with pricing, exhibition details and proposal selection exports.
news.ycombinator.com
Prompt to try
Editorial adaptation, not the source author’s exact prompt. Replace bracketed inputs and review tool permissions first.
Improve [artist inventory project]. Review the painting and gallery records, then add [currency requirements], standardised pricing and exhibit details. Create quick selections for proposals with spreadsheet and web-optimised image exports. Work from [example workflow].
Reach people exploring AI agents
See placements →What happened
The author reports substantially improving the app over two days and adding selection exports, currencies, pricing and exhibit details; it had not been released.
Reported by darrickw on Hacker NewsHow the agent did it
- Built basic painting and gallery lists using free AI services.
- Spent two days with Claude Code cleaning up the existing application.
- Added multiple currencies, standardised pricing and exhibit details.
Where a person stepped in
The author directed changes and assessed usefulness; the post does not describe code review or formal testing.
A person guided the agent closely as it worked.
The author created an inventory application for their wife, an artist, to track paintings and gallery placements. An earlier version emerged from cycling through free AI services as quotas ran out. It was usable but poorly designed, and its growing complexity made further development difficult with those tools.
The original app included a searchable and filterable paintings list, detail and editing views, and a galleries list linking paintings with sold or unsold status. The author later spent two days with Claude Code cleaning up the application and adding features. They describe substantial improvement in usefulness during that period.
The additions included multiple currencies, standardised pricing and exhibition details. The author particularly valued quick selections for proposals, together with Excel exports and web-optimised image exports for those selections. They also describe being able to turn a clearly written problem description into a working feature in less than an hour.
The inventory app had not been released publicly at the time of the post. The author was considering it as a side project. Who it's for: artists or their collaborators who need to track works across galleries and prepare selections for proposals.
Prompt
Suggested prompt (written by Agents In Use, not the author's)
Source: Hacker News · darrickw
Frequently asked questions
What could the original inventory app track?
It had painting search and filters, detail and edit views, and galleries associated with paintings and sold or unsold status.
Which features were added with Claude Code?
The author lists multiple currencies, standardised pricing, exhibit details, quick selections, Excel export and web-optimised image export for selections.
More details
Remaining steps
- Added quick selections with Excel and web-optimised image exports.
About this account
Claude Code helped clean up an existing app and implement features from the author’s descriptions of problems.
Platform: Hacker News. Attribution: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45647907. Prompt: Suggested (written by Agents In Use, not the author's). Sourced by the Agents In Use pipeline.
Credit: darrickw on Hacker News
Source published 20 Oct 2025
Source checked 14 Oct 2026
Tools and topics
Claude Code · Excel export · Image export
Art inventory · Exports · App development
Editorial completeness: 100/100. Measures documented fields, not agent performance or verified outcomes.