Build a CRM with Claude Code (2026 Guide)
By Miguel Torrez, founder of Genial Agency
You will have a simple CRM web app built by Claude Code around your own sales process, with a pipeline view, deals and contacts, and an idea of how to keep it updated from Gmail and meeting notes.
What you need
Claude with access to Claude Code (claude.ai), or Codex as an alternative
A clear picture of your own sales stages and how you work with customers
Optional later: Gmail and an AI note taker to feed updates
Step by step
Open a new Claude Code session
Open Claude, go into Claude Code and start a new session. You don't need to know how to build a CRM: you will explain how you handle sales and let Claude ask the questions.
Describe what you want and ask for questions
Paste the prompt below. Keep it basic and cap the number of questions (I went from 10 down to 5) so the first version stays small.
Starting promptHey Claude, right now I want you to create a CRM for me. I want that CRM to handle all of my leads and also handle my sales cycle and my current customers. I also want to keep track of customer information inside of it. Could you ask me questions that could help me clarify all of the features that you need? Right now, we're going very basic. Give me at most 5 questions.
Answer with your real sales process
Answer each question with how you actually work: the format (a web app), your pipeline stages, whether you hold qualification meetings, what to track per company and per contact, and that you want no integrations yet. Adapt my answers below to your process.
Example answers (mine)This should be a web app. My sales pipeline: lead, qualify, proposal sent, negotiation, won and lost. I normally do qualification meetings before defining if they're qualified. Per company and per contact, all of that information is fine. I do not want any integration right now. I literally just want to have a basic CRM, and this is only for myself.
Say whether it is just you or a team
Tell Claude if the CRM is only for you. If a team will use it, it must record who updated the CRM at every point in time, which is a different build. For a first test, start with the basic version and ask Claude Code to change it later.
Let Claude build it
Let Claude Code build the CRM. Asking for a full web app can take a while. If you ask for a simple CRM that uses only your local files, Claude can do it within a couple of minutes.
Review the pipeline, deals and contacts
Open the result and check: the pipeline breakdown by stage, recent closed deals, how much money is in the pipeline and how many deals you have, the deal overview by company and contact, adding a contact and their company, and moving deals through the pipeline. The starter data is made up.
Fix bugs by asking Claude Code
If something is broken (I found one bug in the deal overview), describe it to Claude Code in the same session and ask it to fix it.
Plan a morning sync from email and notes
Once it works, connect Claude Code (or Codex) to Gmail and your AI note taker, then ask it to update the CRM every morning. Then open the CRM each morning, look at your tasks and start executing.
Morning update promptEvery morning, check my latest emails and my latest sales transcripts from my AI note taker, fetch all of that information, and update the CRM.
Watch out for
Asking for too much at once: Claude Code decided to build an entire application, which took a long time. Ask for a simple CRM on local files if you want it in minutes.
Building a solo CRM for a team: a shared CRM must track who updated it and when, so say which one you need up front.
Expecting bells and whistles: this basic version has no automations. Its value is follow-up and a clear view of your funnel.
Generated apps can have small bugs (I had one in the deal overview). Check each screen and ask Claude Code to fix what breaks.
