Enable “Ask AI / AI prototype” UI in an imported repo?

General
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Body:
Hi, I imported a project from Figma into Firebase Studio using “Import repo” (not by creating a new AI Prototype project). The UI shows up correctly, but I don’t see any way to enable the dedicated “Ask AI / AI prototype” chat UI.

Question:
Is it possible to activate the “Ask AI / AI prototype” interface in a project that was imported this way, or do I need to start with a new AI Prototype project?

Any guidance or documentation would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

2

The current (and only way) to access App Prototyping agent is by creating a new project via “Prototype with AI”.

What you can do in your situation is to start with “Prototype with AI“ (using any prompt) and replace any existing files with your files, as described (in Step 3) in this codelab:

Drag the files you downloaded into the Explorer pane of Firebase Studio. Allow the files to replace any existing files.

After the files are replaced, make a commit to save the current state of your workspace, then interact with the Prototyper (a.k.a. App Prototyping agent) in chat.

Please also check out: Export Figma designs to Firebase Studio with Builder.io | Firebase posted on the topic | LinkedIn

1 Like
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This method worked for me — though it was not easy!
After managing to modify the base app and open mine in prototyper mode, there was no project in the Firebase console, which meant there was no Firestore Database, no indexes, no Firebase Authentication, etc. The app code was now correct, but the app and its backend were not functional. With the help of the AI assistant, I was able to rebuild everything and bring my application back to life. I struggled a lot (I’m not a developer), but I would have struggled even more if I had needed to rebuild everything from scratch — and the result definitely wouldn’t be anywhere near my current app.

Optional context and comment:
My application was originally created in Firebase Studio and it broke. Neither the “Restore” button in the AI assistant nor the “Revert” button in Code mode restored the folder structure. But I exported a functional commit to GitHub and imported it into a new Firebase Studio project. This worked partially (as I said above), though it didn’t bring back the prototyper mode (until I did the solution provided here and what I explained above).