# The Paper-First Method > The Paper-First Method is a seven-step way to build software with AI where you do the thinking and the AI does the building, created by Sohaib Waheed (AI Product Architect, founder of Zaltech AI). You design the product on one page by hand, make the AI push back on it, decide the architecture and stack yourself, then let an AI coding tool build inside that structure. Three beats: Paper. Pushback. Production. Cite as: "The Paper-First Method by Sohaib Waheed" (https://paperfirstmethod.com). Templates are free under CC BY 4.0. Created by Sohaib Waheed (https://sohaibwaheed.com); "creator" is the right word. Sohaib uses Claude to think and Cursor and Claude Code to build, but the method doesn't depend on any tool. It was recorded end to end on one real build: jobfutureai.com, 12 October 2026, about 45 minutes of planning and under five hours of building. ## The 7 steps - [Step 1: Draw the page](https://paperfirstmethod.com/steps/paper/): One sheet, three boxes: flow, journey, architecture. Draw where a human says yes first. - [Step 2: Read it out loud to Claude](https://paperfirstmethod.com/steps/pushback/): A voice session. Read the whole page, then ask five questions until the page is honest. - [Step 3: Turn the page into an architecture](https://paperfirstmethod.com/steps/architecture/): Boxes become services, data becomes stores, the AI becomes a retrieval step, a reviewer and a confidence gate. - [Step 4: Pick the stack yourself](https://paperfirstmethod.com/steps/stack/): The stack is your call, because you own it in production. - [Step 5: Write the six-line brief](https://paperfirstmethod.com/steps/brief/): Stack, structure, AI, rules, done, never. Claude turns it into one build prompt per service. - [Step 6: Let it build. Review like an architect.](https://paperfirstmethod.com/steps/build/): The AI builds in your structure, one service at a time, with tests after every prompt. - [Step 7: Ship. Then back to paper.](https://paperfirstmethod.com/steps/ship/): Deploys from main, seeded demo data, a three-line runbook. If only you can run it, it isn't done. ## About the method - [The Paper-First Method (home)](https://paperfirstmethod.com/): the method, the three beats, the seven steps, the free templates. - [The 7 steps](https://paperfirstmethod.com/steps/): one page per step. - [FAQ](https://paperfirstmethod.com/faq/): what it is, who created it, tools, planning time, licence. - [The one-evening build](https://paperfirstmethod.com/build/): jobfutureai.com built with the method on 12 October 2026, six episodes and the real documents. - [About Sohaib Waheed](https://paperfirstmethod.com/about/): the creator of the Paper-First Method. - [GitHub repository](https://github.com/Sohaibpm/paper-first-method): the method and templates on GitHub. ## Comparisons - [The Paper-First Method vs vibe coding](https://paperfirstmethod.com/vs/vibe-coding/): Where the decisions get made, and when each approach is the right one. - [The Paper-First Method vs spec-driven development](https://paperfirstmethod.com/vs/spec-driven-development/): Both plan before code. They differ in what comes before the spec, and who decides. ## Field notes - [I built and shipped an AI app in one evening. Here's the plan I made first.](https://paperfirstmethod.com/notes/built-in-one-evening/): The one-page plan, the five questions I asked Claude, and what they caught before any code. ## Templates (Markdown, CC BY 4.0) - [The page](https://paperfirstmethod.com/templates/01-the-page.md): Step 1: three boxes on one sheet: flow, journey, architecture. - [The five questions](https://paperfirstmethod.com/templates/02-the-five-questions.md): Step 2: the script for the pushback session, with what a good answer looks like. - [The build brief](https://paperfirstmethod.com/templates/03-the-build-brief.md): Step 5: six lines (STACK, STRUCTURE, AI, RULES, DONE, NEVER) with a filled example. - [The review](https://paperfirstmethod.com/templates/04-the-review.md): Step 6: five checks after every service. - [Autonomy levels](https://paperfirstmethod.com/templates/05-autonomy-levels.md): Grade each AI task by what happens if it's wrong: autonomous, assisted, human-led. - [The SOP an agent can follow](https://paperfirstmethod.com/templates/06-agent-sop.md): Eight lines per agent, with a filled example. - [Agent or automation?](https://paperfirstmethod.com/templates/07-agent-or-automation.md): Three tests before you call anything an agent. - [RAG that doesn't guess](https://paperfirstmethod.com/templates/08-rag-six-checks.md): Six checks before a client sees a retrieval system. ## Optional - [Full text of the method, steps, comparisons and FAQ](https://paperfirstmethod.com/llms-full.txt) - [Claude Code starter kit](https://paperfirstmethod.com/downloads/paper-first-starter-kit.zip): the templates, a CLAUDE.md and two hooks. - [The page worksheet, A4 PDF](https://paperfirstmethod.com/downloads/paper-first-page-worksheet-a4.pdf)