Building Production-Ready Apps with Leap

Why Most AI-Generated Apps Never Make It to Production

AI tools are great for making quick prototypes, but there's a big difference between a local demo and an app that can handle real users.

Most "vibe coded" or AI-generated apps stay as prototypes because they're missing:

• They often generate frontends connected to BaaS (Backend-as-a-Service) solutions with scaling limitations
• They lack proper architecture for handling increased load
• They're missing observability tools needed to monitor performance
• They don't include security best practices required for real-world use
• They're difficult to customize beyond the initial generation

What you end up with is an impressive demo that breaks when teams try to use them with real users.

The 3-Step Process for Building Production Apps

Building production apps with Leap follows a simple three-step process:

First, describe your system with as much detail as you prefer. For example:

Build a movie recommendation API service that:
- Gets popular movies from TMDB API
- Stores user favorites in a database
- Provides search functionality
- Has endpoints for getting movie details
- Includes user rating system

Second, Leap generates your full application. Within 30-60 seconds, you get a complete codebase including backend services with type-safe APIs, database schema, external API integration, authentication endpoints, and business logic.

Here's a sample of the generated code:

// Part of a "movies" microservice - Encore uses domain-driven design
import { api } from "encore.dev/api";
import { SQLDatabase } from "encore.dev/storage/sqldb";

const db = new SQLDatabase("movies", {
  migrations: "./migrations",
});

export const search = api(
  { method: "GET", path: "/movies/search" },  /
  async ({ query }: { query: string }) => {
    return await searchMovies(query);
  }
);

And finally, deployment with one click. Leap provisions and configures all necessary infrastructure (databases, secrets, monitoring, networking) and deploys your application with zero downtime. You can choose to deploy either to Encore Cloud or to your own AWS/GCP account.

The complete process creates applications that work in production from day one.

What Makes a Backend Production-Ready

Production backends need components that many development approaches miss. Leap applications use Encore.ts, which includes these production features from the beginning.

Microservices By Design

Leap creates true microservices architectures with clear service boundaries, enabling:

• Independent scaling of different application components
• Isolation of critical services for better reliability
• Clear separation of concerns for easier maintenance
• Graceful handling of inter-service failures

Database Architecture for Scale

Leap implements sophisticated database strategies including:

• Service-specific databases for proper isolation
• Automatic migration management for safe schema evolution
• Type-safe queries with SQL injection protection
• Connection pooling and proper resource management

Production Observability Built-In

Every application comes with comprehensive observability features:

• Distributed tracing across service boundaries
• Automatic performance metrics collection
• Structured logging with proper context
• Service health monitoring
• Live architecture visualization

Security and Compliance Features

Leap-generated applications include security best practices:

• Secure API authentication and authorization
• Environment-based secrets management
• Infrastructure hardening based on industry standards
• Proper encryption for data in transit

The development experience supports Git integration, preview environments, infrastructure-as-code, and end-to-end type safety across your entire system.

Real-World Examples: From Concept to Live App

Fredrik Kjekk (@fredrikkjell) shares a real-world example:

I tried @leapdotnew for a simple project. Blown away. I asked Leap to code an Alexa skill that gives the current electricity price and the low price of the day. Some issues with the data parsing but that took 5 minutes to correct. In total, 15 minutes spent. Very cool.

This changes what small teams can build. Projects that used to need multiple engineers can now be built by one developer in an afternoon.

Alex Kerber (@alex-kerber) experienced similar results:

When I discovered @leapdotnew paired with @encoredotdev, it completely transformed our development velocity. What would typically take months of backend architecture setup and development, we accomplished in days. Leap handled our complex requirements; user matching algorithms, real-time messaging, community spaces, and safety features. The Encore framework underneath gives us confidence to scale to millions.

How This Compares to Traditional Development

How does this approach compare to the traditional ways developers build backend applications?

The code generated is standard TypeScript that follows best practices. You can customize it with your preferred IDE, integrate with your existing workflows, and deploy to your own cloud infrastructure with no vendor lock-in.

Building Your First Production-Ready App

Unlike most AI tools that just make frontends or connect to third-party services, Leap builds complete backends. This includes microservices, database management, APIs, and the infrastructure needed for production.

As Simon Vans-Colina (@simonvc) notes about this approach:

With leap.new you're getting a head start on a platform that you can absolutely build a billion dollar business on. The cost of starting on a platform that will scale is lower than rolling something yourself.

The process is simple: describe what you want to build, review the code, and deploy. Your app is ready for production from the start.

The best way to understand the difference is to try it yourself. Build your first production-ready backend in minutes at leap.new.