Building the Scripture Study Tool
Five phases, one problem at a time
- Phase 1 · March 2026
A lookup box on a GoDaddy page
I started with the smallest thing that could work. A visitor typed a Bible passage or a topic into an HTML block on my old GoDaddy site, an n8n workflow passed it to Claude, and a formatted Catholic explanation came back.
- Mar 13The first version went live on the GoDaddy site.
- Mar 14I planned Brief and Detailed modes for quick prep and deeper study.
- Late MarchA single AI call kept skipping sections, so I split the work into two calls: background first, then the full answer.
- Phase 2 · April 2026
Hardening the basics
Early failures were hard to read, so I changed the page to show what actually came back from the workflow. I also locked in the prompt version that later became the baseline for every answer.
- Apr 7I settled the detailed prompt that the tool still builds on today.
- AprilI made failed lookups explain themselves instead of failing silently.
- AprilA coaching session pointed me toward caching and monitoring, which became this fall's memory plan.
- Phase 3 · July 2026
Reliability: one model is not a product
If Claude was unavailable, the tool was down. I added GPT-4o as a backup, so the same request retries on a second model when the first one fails.
- Jul 16I added the GPT-4o fallback to the workflow.
- Jul 28I tested both paths end to end, including a forced Claude failure.
- Jul 29I fixed a condition that was sending every request to the backup, even when Claude had answered.
- Phase 4 · August to September 2026
A new home and new prompts
I moved my whole site from GoDaddy to a modern Next.js site on Vercel, and the tool moved with it. I rewrote the prompts for people preparing for small group discussion.
- Early AugThe site moved to Vercel, and the tool joined the free tools page.
- Aug 31I added personal reflection and discussion questions, and Brief mode got its own path.
- Sep 3I put clear input instructions right above the box.
- Phase 5 · October 2026
From a lookup to a study companion
Once I used the tool for my own study, the gaps were obvious. Each release this month came from a real need: asking a follow-up, seeing the context, keeping the study, and taking it with me.
- Oct 8I went back to the April prompt and added the NAB translation, because version history let me compare them.
- Oct 9Readers can ask up to five follow-up questions, and each answer builds on the conversation so far.
- Oct 13A passage lookup now explains what happens just before it, and it links to the full NAB text.
- Oct 15Readers can download a study as Word or Markdown, print it, and run Brief or Detailed in one click.
- Oct 17A study now survives a page refresh.
Four simple parts
A reader enters a passage or topic and picks Brief or Detailed.
An n8n workflow checks the request and builds the conversation.
Claude answers first, and GPT-4o steps in if Claude fails.
The reader asks follow-ups, then downloads or prints the study.
Lessons I now bring to every AI build
A second model and a tested failover turned a demo into something people can depend on.
When a newer prompt made answers worse, I could go back to the April version in minutes.
Skipped sections and blocked long quotations only appeared with real questions, and each one changed the design.
The page sends the whole conversation with each follow-up, so there's no account or session to manage.
Download, print, and one-click modes came straight from the notes I kept while studying with the tool.
The next three steps
When anyone has already studied a passage, the tool will return the stored answer right away instead of asking the model again.
Readers will be able to save a whole study in their own browser and pick it up later, follow-ups included.
The tool will get its own home, built for parishes, small groups, and personal study.