From Figma to Full-Stack: A Guide to Building with v0

Accelerating Web Development with v0

v0 is a tool designed to help you build web applications faster, with several new features shipped recently. Now, you can build full-stack applications, paste in screenshots, or connect to Figma to generate your UI. It allows for one-click deployment of your application to Vercel, getting your site online instantly. You can even connect and integrate with numerous services through the Vercel Marketplace, and much more. In this article, let's explore how to build an application with v0.

From Design to Code: Importing from Figma

The process begins in Figma, with a pre-designed form for an ecommerce application. By taking the Figma link and importing it into v0, we can establish a starting point for our application. We'll start with just this design and iterate from there, providing no other context beyond the visual information from the Figma file.

Behind the scenes, v0 takes the design and begins generating React code for a full-stack application that can be previewed and used directly in the browser. This interactive environment allows you to:

• View and edit the code directly.
• Check console logs and errors.
• Ask follow-up questions for modifications.
• Preview the live application to ensure it meets requirements before deploying.

This workflow ensures the application is right before clicking the deploy button to get a live, shareable URL.

Iterating on the User Interface

Once generated, the initial application appears. The UI includes radio buttons for delivery options, a user information form, and payment options. While the initial result is good, some refinements can be made. For instance, the default selected button's styling could be improved by removing its black background. Another potential update is to switch the application's typography to a monospace font for a different aesthetic.

When making edits, v0's fast edit mode is particularly useful. It only changes the specific subset of the file related to the highlighted component, speeding up the iteration process as you refine the UI. The generated components are directly imported from shadcn/ui, ensuring a solid foundation. After adjusting the button style, the next step is to implement the font change. A prompt to 'use a monospace font from Google Fonts' is all that's needed to see how it looks.

A key advantage of v0 is the ability to iterate live and experiment with different ideas at a very low cost. If a change isn't desirable, you can easily restore a previous version using the history navigation. This freedom to explore ensures you can find what looks right. The output is production-ready React code, built on accessible primitives that are beautifully styled and fully customizable. The monospace font change, for example, gives the application a clean, modern feel.

One-Click Deployment to Vercel

Once satisfied with the UI, you have several options: continue editing, download the code to a local editor, or copy-paste the code into an existing codebase. However, a powerful option is to deploy the application directly to Vercel. To do this, simply create a new project—for instance, named 'Payments'—and initiate the deployment.

The build process kicks off, and you can monitor its progress. Once finished, a live URL is generated. Clicking this link opens the newly deployed application in a new window. The result is a live, functional website, providing an excellent starting point for further development.

Building a Full-Stack Application with Supabase

Beyond the front end, v0 can build full-stack applications. For example, we can integrate a backend service like Supabase, which provides a Postgres database. A Supabase database can be set up easily through the Vercel Marketplace, offering first-party integration and unified billing. When you prompt v0 to connect to Supabase, it will ask for the necessary environment variables to establish the connection.

Note: To connect to Supabase, you will need the following credentials: - Public Supabase URL - Public Anon Key

These credentials can be found in your Supabase project settings under 'API'. After pasting the URL and anon key into v0, they are securely saved to your Vercel project's environment variables. This is a critical security practice: these values are not hardcoded into the v0 application. Instead, they are stored securely in your Vercel project, allowing for proper permissioning, access controls, and the setup of different environments for testing with various databases.

With the environment variables configured, v0 generates a multi-file application structure. This includes:

• Server actions for backend logic.
• A file to manage the Supabase database connection.
• An updated checkout form that interacts with the backend.

This capability allows for the easy generation of complex, multi-file applications that connect to various services, going far beyond just UI creation.

Furthermore, you can ask follow-up questions to refine the backend, such as requesting the necessary SQL to tweak a database schema or asking for guidance on database migrations. All these capabilities are accessible through the web development assistant provided by v0. Once the updated checkout form is complete, the full-stack application is ready for deployment.

Conclusion

v0 has shipped a ton of new features that streamline the development process from design to a fully functional, full-stack application. By integrating with tools like Figma, Vercel, and Supabase, it provides a powerful and efficient workflow for modern web development.