How I Turned a Vision into a Modular, AI-Assisted System Without Writing a Line of Code
by Dave | iFlow.bot 🧠

The Chaos We Faced

If you run an HR or recruitment business, you probably know this pain:

  • Separate tools for candidate tracking, client management, scheduling, and communication
  • Hundreds of spreadsheets juggling CVs, contracts, and compliance data
  • Fragmented newsletters blasting every open role to everyone, regardless of fit

That was our situation. We needed one centralized system to rule them all — candidates, employees, job offers, agencies, transport, and communication flows.

So I began designing a custom CRM system for our international recruitment operations.

From Blueprint to Build: Why Bolt.new First

I didn’t start from code. I started with structure.

With AI-powered suggestions, I defined:

  • Entities: Clients, Projects, Orders, Candidates, Employees, Calendar Events, Settings
  • Relationships: Orders link Projects to Candidates; Calendar ties to Orders, Candidates, Employees
  • Attributes: Cost structures for agencies, multi-language skills for jobs, GDPR consents for candidates
bolt.new

My Goal: A Full HR Operating System

Here’s what I needed to manage in one place:

  • Candidates looking for work
  • Agencies / clients
  • Transport coordination
  • Document and contract management
  • Interviews, arrivals, scheduling
  • Newsletters and job offers based on profile
  • Advanced filtering and lifecycle stages

Bolt.new is like having a systems architect and co-pilot rolled into one — powered by AI, it helped me visualize how all the parts of my business could fit into a unified system.

🗒️
Before you dive into development, take the time to fully plan your CRM in a notebook. Outline every “card” (module), list each field and its relationships, and map out exactly where data should live and how components connect. This upfront blueprint prevents dozens of last-minute tweaks with an AI chatbot and ensures your system is built on a solid foundation from day one.

Think of it as digital white boarding with logic baked in.

The Application: What We Actually Built

The final system includes:

1. Dashboard – Your Command Centre

  • Metrics at a glance: Active clients, open orders, candidate pool
  • Progress bars: Real-time tracking of recruitment pipelines
  • Activity feed: Alerts for upcoming deadlines and urgent tasks
Click to check LIVE DEMO

2. Client Management – Multi-Type Support

  • Employment Agencies: Weekly or pre-paid schemes, accommodation & insurance costs, KVK registration, arrival points
  • Transport Companies: Route planning (Warsaw → Amsterdam, Krakow → Rotterdam), vehicle types, seat allocations
  • Direct Employers: Simplified profiles for one-off hires
    Key win: Refactored to support all client types without breaking data integrity
Click to check LIVE DEMO

3. Project Management – Job Position Lifecycle

  • Multi-language requirements: English, Dutch, German, Polish with proficiency levels
  • License tracking: From car to crane certifications
  • Visibility toggles: Public vs private listings for different audiences
  • Tag system: Ultra-fast filtering to match candidates to roles
Manage recruitment projects and job opportunities. Click to check LIVE DEMO

4. Orders – Recruitment Workflows

  • Three-step setup: Select client → choose project → configure order
  • Milestone tracker: 0%→100% with visual markers
  • Priority flags: High, medium, low for resource allocation
  • Ownership & deadlines: Visual warnings before “go-live” dates

Click to check LIVE DEMO

5. Candidate Management – Dual-View System

  • Simple View: Card layout for quick scans, basic info & actions
  • Advanced View: Bulk emails/SMS, newsletter targeting, GDPR consents, CV uploads
  • Document vault: Contracts, certificates, permits in one place
    Iteration: Added advanced mode after initial feedback on edge-case workflows
Comprehensive candidate database with communication tools. Click to check LIVE DEMO

6. Employee Lifecycle – Status & Logistics

  • Workflow stages: Preparation → Contract Sent → Signed → Arrived → Working
  • Timeline: Complete audit trail of each placement
  • Accommodation & transport: Linked records for room bookings and ride shares
Track hired candidates and their employment journey. Click to check LIVE DEMO

7. Calendar & Events – Integrated Scheduling

  • Multi-view: Month, week, day layouts
  • Event types: Interviews, arrivals, deadlines, holidays
  • Recurring patterns: Daily to yearly repeats
  • Entity links: Orders, candidates, clients, and projects all interwoven
Click to check LIVE DEMO

Behind the scenes, every module talks to the others:

A[Clients] --> B[Projects]
  B --> C[Orders]
  C --> D[Candidates]
  D --> E[Employees]
  
F[Calendar] --> C & D & E
G[Settings] --> B & D
  • Real-time search: Instant results as you type
  • Multi-criteria filters: Status, date ranges, tags
  • Saved views: Preserve personal filter states for power users

UI/UX Philosophy

  • Sidebar navigation: Clean logo, hierarchical sections, quick-action grid
  • Consistent badges: Blue = primary, green = success, red = alerts
  • Progress bars & modals: Unified across all components
  • Mobile-first: Touch-friendly, adaptive layouts, performance tuned

Quality Assurance

  • Button audit: 100% coverage for add/edit/delete flows
  • Cross-browser: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, iOS & Android web tests
  • Error & loading states: Meaningful placeholders and feedback
  • Form validation: Real-time checks to prevent bad data

Lessons from the Build

What Worked

  • Bolt gave me clarity on structure and relationships
  • The component approach made it easy to scale
  • I learned a ton just by “vibing” through the code and UI logic
  • AI support (like Bolt or Copilot) is insanely helpful when mapping systems

⚠️ What Needs Improvement

  • Real-time sync between views and backend (Supabase wasn’t fully connected)
  • I hit limits on security, stability, and version control without dev support
  • Danger of "breaking the system" as a non-dev — updates can cause chaos

Still — this was the best way to learn. And we’ve got a working version up on Netlify.

Is This the Future of Building Apps?

Not quite. But it’s close.

I’m not a full-stack developer. But with tools like Bolt.new, I can now think like one.

The mental model is there. The logic is sound. And the next phase (backend, auth, real hosting) is much easier when the foundation is clean.

Final Thoughts

Want to build your own CRM or internal system?
Here’s what I recommend:

  • Use AI tools like Bolt to map relationships and flows before you code.
  • Think in tables, views, and user roles.
  • Don’t over-engineer — build what your team will actually use.
  • Learn by doing — but be cautious. Without dev discipline, systems break easily.

We’re just getting started. In the next post, I’ll show you how we turned this into a real app, hosted on Netlify, styled with Tailwind, and structured in React.

💡
The window is open. The tools are here. The future of no-code / low-code CRM for niche industries is now.

🧠 Ready to build your own system?