Why Build a Client Portal
A client portal reduces the number of "where is my thing?" emails you receive. Instead of clients emailing you for status updates, invoice copies, or deliverable access, they log into the portal and find everything themselves. For service businesses that deliver documents, designs, or project outputs, a portal is one of the highest-ROI tools you can build.
The minimum viable portal: a login page, a dashboard with basic project info (name, status, next milestone), and a documents section where files are accessible by download link. This covers eighty percent of client needs and takes a weekend to build.
What to Describe to Claude
"Build a client portal with: Replit Auth login, a /dashboard route that shows the logged-in client's name and project status, a /documents route that shows a list of files with download links, and an admin route at /admin where I can add new clients, update their project status, and add document links. Use a SQLite database with a clients table (id, name, email, project_status, project_name) and a documents table (id, client_id, document_name, document_url, created_at)."
Adding Multiple Clients
The admin route is what makes this a real tool versus a demo. You need to be able to add new clients, update their project status as work progresses, and add document links when deliverables are ready. Ask Claude to build a simple admin interface at /admin with forms for each of these actions.