Octavian Ciulei
Full-stack builder · I turn broken problems into working pro
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I realized recently that I couldn't find some of my oldest childhood friends online. Instagram handles change, Facebook feels like a ghost town, and the internet,despite connecting the whole world,somehow forgot about the class of 2012. So, I decided to build a place for us.
The Solution:
Meet Catalog. A mobile MVP designed not as a noisy social network, but as a quiet sanctuary. No endless feeds, no gamification. Just a calm, nostalgic space (built with a strict Notion & Daylio-inspired design system) to find your old school, claim your class, and share memories.
The "Messy Middle" (How I built it):
For the challenge, I didn't just want to drag and drop. I wanted to push the technical limits:
The Architecture: I used for the first time the Model Context Protocol (MCP) via Cursor (first time too) to inject a strict design system directly into #Flowstep using prompt engineering.
The Reality: Building is messy! As you can see in my demo video, my laptop battery almost LITERALLY died mid-generation, and the AI created some duplicate branches. But that’s the beauty of being a Product Engineer. I jumped into the Flowstep canvas, cleaned the architecture, exported the native layers into Figma, and manually wired the final prototype to perfection.
What's Next & Let's Connect:
This UI prototype is just the beginning. With my background in Software Engineering and Data Science, I am going to build the real backend for this. To ensure safety, I plan to integrate an OAuth verification system (like Instagram API) so users can securely verify their identities before seeing sensitive contact info.
I want to see this project come alive so I can finally find my long-lost friends, and I hope it helps you find yours, too.
Want to collaborate on making this real?I will make this a study-case on my blog where you can see more updates or reach out
Flowstep link:https://app.flowstep.ai/file?activeFileId=df531572-26cc-49ef-986a-40cbbf6bbee5
Social post (instagram) link: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbewKGCICBv/?igsh=MTc4a2NvMjhma3c2ZA==
Personal page: https://garrulous-build-logic-flow.base44.app/
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Hei again! Just wanted to post a quick update on "Catalog" — my project for finding those long-lost middle school friends.
I just recorded a demo to show the "messy middle" of my workflow. Since my goal is to eventually bring this to life with my software engineering background, I really wanted to push the technical side of this challenge. I used the Flowstep MCP integration in Cursor to inject a strict, calm design system directly into the canvas. I want this app to feel nostalgic and safe, not like a noisy, complicated social media feed.
Of course, building is never perfect on the first try! The AI got a bit too excited and over-delivered by creating a few duplicate flow screens. So, I jumped into the Flowstep canvas, cleaned up the architecture, and then exported all the native layers straight into Figma. Now, all the connections are manually wired up and you can see the fully clickable flow working beautifully on an iPhone 14 demo!
Also, thinking ahead about how this would actually function in the real world: safety is the biggest hurdle. In the video, I talk a bit about the product vision. To make this safe, the real backend would use an API integration (like Instagram OAuth) to verify someone's identity before revealing any sensitive contact details or phone numbers. It's the only way to make sure you are actually talking to your old desk mate.
It's almost 6 AM here and I’ve been up all night building this, but seeing the prototype finally come alive and clickable in Figma makes it all worth it. I'm going to get a few hours of sleep and then I'll post the official final submission later today.
Hope you guys like the demo so far!
Flowstep link: https://app.flowstep.ai/file?activeFileId=df531572-26cc-49ef-986a-40cbbf6bbee5
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hei, just wanted to document my start of the project "Catalog", which for me and my whole generation of colleagues represents the binding stone for all of our 4 years of middle school.
This project is made from a heartfelt place, as I find myself sometimes searching for my old best-friends from middle school on social media to keep in touch, but I hit that stone wall where I cannot find them anywhere, as new instagram usernames are too complicated to keep in mind for 8+ years after, and facebook is too old school for some of them, so they never have set up an account.
Here I will represent the demo of my idea, but I will push forward with this idea with my background in software engineering, so that I would make this project alive and one day, I will find my long-lost friend, and I hope all of you will find your lost-friends someday too.
'photo from the first prompt output for this project'
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🔨 While everyone else was building loyalty apps for cafés and salons, I went hunting for B2B.
I'm a student in Maastricht, and I deliberately searched the Netherlands for a real industrial business, because every other #GiveItAGlow entry I saw was consumer-facing, and nobody was touching the heavy industry.
I found Laska Speciaal Lasbedrijf: an industrial welding company in Rotterdam, running since 1950. 76 years, five-star reputation, real B2B clients in construction and marine.
One problem: their "Request a Quote" form was broken. Not slow, not outdated — actually broken, showing a raw code error instead of a form. Every day it sat like that, they were losing quote requests from companies who needed an answer fast. 💸
So I rebuilt it. ⚒️
🌐 A professional industrial site — their real 76-year history, real photos of real completed work
📋 A working multi-step quote form — material, scope, deadline, file upload
🤖 An AI workflow that reads every request, classifies it as standard or high-priority based on material and scope, and tells the client what to expect — 3 hours for standard jobs, 24 hours for complex ones — while instantly flagging urgent jobs for the shop manager
I reached out to the real owners by phone and email. They're closed for the weekend, so I'm still waiting to hear back — but wanted to share what's already live and working. 🔥
🔗 Live: https://lasbedrijf-speciaal-lasbedrijf.base44.app/ (https://lasbedrijf-speciaal-lasbedrijf.base44.app/) 🔗 Before: https://www.laska-speciaallasbedrijf.nl/
(https://www.laska-speciaallasbedrijf.nl/)🔗 Online Post (X): https://x.com/ydgsgiwhs/status/2075919901772878148?s=20
This is an independent concept redesign built for the Base44 #GiveItAGlow
Challenge — not officially affiliated with or endorsed by Laska Speciaal
Lasbedrijf. I reached out to the real owners by phone and email; they're
closed for the weekend, so I'm still waiting to hear back.
#GiveItAGlow #Base44 #Contra #B2B #AIAutomation
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