How a Mini Program Differs from a Web Page
The web page you built in Week 1 opens for anyone who has the link. A Mini Program is different in three ways:
1. It runs inside WeChat: users open it by searching in WeChat or scanning a code. No app to install, and it cannot be opened in a browser.
2. It must pass review to go live: you cannot publish as soon as you finish writing. You submit it to WeChat for review, and only after approval can others use it.
3. It uses its own page language: not HTML, but WXML (structure), WXSS (styles), and JS (logic). You do not need to write it yourself, but you need to know it is not the web stack.
What a Personal Account Can Build
Go to mp.weixin.qq.com and register a Mini Program. Choosing Individual as the account type is enough to start; no business license needed. But a personal account has two hard limits:
- No WeChat Pay. To collect money you need a business (enterprise) account.
- Many categories are closed: medical, finance, education and training, social, and other categories that require licenses cannot be selected by a personal account. Tools, lifestyle services, and productivity are fine.
So make your first Mini Program a tool: to-do lists, expense tracking, habit check-ins, calculators all pass under a personal account.
Get the AppID, Install DevTools
After registering, open the Mini Program admin console and go to Development Management → Development Settings. The first row is your AppID, a string starting with wx. Copy it; you will need it when importing the project.
Then download WeChat DevTools (official from WeChat, free). It is your editor, simulator, and uploader in one. Open it and choose "Import Project": pick an empty folder, enter the AppID, and for the backend choose "Do not use cloud services" (Lesson 4 switches this to Cloud Development).
准备清单（今天做完）：
☐ mp.weixin.qq.com 注册小程序（个人主体）
☐ 拿到 AppID：wx________________
☐ 装好微信开发者工具，登录
☐ 新建空文件夹 todo-mini，在开发者工具里导入并填 AppID
☐ 在同一个文件夹里启动 claude，用 /init 生成 CLAUDE.md自测 · 学完检查一下
想真正动手做题、记进度、攒连胜？到互动课里练。
Xiao Ding posts the link to his Week 1 to-do list in a WeChat group and says, "This is my Mini Program." Which point shows it is actually not one?
答案：It is a web page opened in a browser, has not passed WeChat review, and is not written in the Mini Program page language
Login, pricing, and page count have nothing to do with the definition. A Mini Program is defined as "runs inside the WeChat container, passed review, and is written in WXML/WXSS." If the link opens in a browser, it is a web page.
Which of these ideas can a personal-account Mini Program build directly?
答案：Family expense tracker: log income and spending, see monthly totals
Expense tracking is a tool, open to personal accounts. Selling cakes needs WeChat Pay, which a personal account cannot get. Consultations are medical and paid lessons are education and training; both require licenses, so a personal account cannot select those categories.
True or false: a personal account can build the payment feature first, hide it during review, then switch it on after approval to get around the limit.
答案：False
A personal account cannot get a WeChat Pay merchant account at all; it is not about hiding things from review. Secretly changing features after approval is also a violation and gets the Mini Program taken down. If you want to collect money, register as a business or sole proprietor.
WeChat DevTools asks for an AppID when importing a project. Where is it?
答案：The "Development Management → Development Settings" page in the Mini Program admin console
The AppID is the Mini Program's ID card inside WeChat, issued by the Mini Program admin console. DevTools only uses it to match the project; your personal WeChat account and CLAUDE.md never contain it.
Why start Claude Code in the same folder you imported into WeChat DevTools, instead of any random folder?
答案：Claude Code can only work on the folder it was started in, and DevTools only recognizes the folder it imported; both must point to the same place
The "workspace" rule from Lesson 1 shows up again: Claude Code edits files where it was started; DevTools compiles files where it imported. If the two are not the same folder, the AI can edit all day and DevTools will show nothing.