Can AI build a migraine tracker app like Migraine Buddy?

Build a personal migraine tracker web app to replace Migraine Buddy MBplus for my own use.

Tech rules:
- Plain HTML, CSS, and vanilla JavaScript in one file. No framework, build step, account, or server.
- Store all data in localStorage under one key, with a version number.

Data model:
- Attack: id, startAt, endAt (null while active), painScale (0-10), symptoms [], hasAura (boolean), phase (prodrome, aura, attack, postdrome).
- MedicationDose: id, attackId, medicationName, doseAmount, takenAt.
- CycleFlag: attackId, onCycle (boolean, optional, manually entered).
- Report period: startDate, endDate.

Features:
- Start an attack log with pain scale and symptom tags (nausea, photophobia, phonophobia, and custom tags).
- Track aura, prodrome, and postdrome phases as separate optional stages of one attack, not separate attacks.
- Log multiple medication doses with times per attack.
- Optional manual flag for whether an attack falls on your menstrual cycle, for hormonal-pattern review.
- A doctor-ready PDF (or clean print view) summarizing attacks in a chosen date range: count, average pain, common symptoms, and medications used.
- CSV export of all logged attacks and doses.

Edge cases the build must handle correctly:
1. An attack spanning midnight or multiple days is tracked as one continuous entry, not split by day.
2. Multiple medication doses with different times are all recorded for one attack, not overwritten.
3. Pain scale (0-10) and symptom tags (nausea, photophobia, phonophobia, and custom ones) can be logged and edited together on one entry.
4. Aura vs no-aura is a clear toggle, separate from the general symptom tag list.
5. Prodrome and postdrome phases are optional and linked to the same attack, not treated as separate attack records.
6. The menstrual cycle flag is manually entered, never auto-inferred, and clearly optional.
7. The doctor-ready summary correctly counts attacks and averages pain scale only over the selected date range, not the full history.
8. Editing a past attack's start or end time recalculates its duration in the summary.

Backup:
- One-click "Export JSON" and "Export CSV" of all attacks and doses.
- "Import JSON" restores after confirmation.
- An importer that reads a Migraine Buddy CSV export, since the native export is reportedly raw and needs field mapping [VERIFY].

Layout:
- Mobile-first, readable at 375px wide, easy to log quickly with one hand during an attack, high contrast with a low-brightness or dark mode option for light sensitivity.

Exclusions:
- No publishing, App Store submission, accounts, payments, social features, weather correlation, or AI-generated trigger insights.

Write a short README explaining where data is stored, how to export and restore it, and how to generate the doctor-ready summary.

Keep it under 650 lines. This is a personal tool, not a product.

What is the short answer?

Yes, but. AI can build a migraine attack log with phase tracking, medication doses, and a doctor-ready summary to replace most of Migraine Buddy MBplus in about a day.

The “but” is that you may not be missing much to begin with. The developer states roughly 95% of Migraine Buddy is free, including attack logging, weather forecasting, community access, and exportable doctor reports [VERIFY]. What’s actually locked behind MBplus is advanced analytics, AI-powered end-time predictions, a trigger recommender, and personalized coaching. The real subscription trap for many users isn’t lost data, it’s frequent push notifications upselling MBplus on an app that already gives most of the useful part away free [VERIFY].

Option	Best for	Upfront cost	Ongoing cost	Main limitation
Build a rough prototype	Someone who wants private attack logging without upsell notifications	$0 and 3–4 hours	$0	No weather correlation, no AI trigger insights
Build a daily-use personal version	Someone who wants phase tracking, cycle correlation, and a doctor PDF	$0 and 8–10 hours	$0	Still no weather correlation or AI-generated insights
Keep paying for Migraine Buddy MBplus	Someone who wants weather-correlation logging or AI trigger predictions	$0	Roughly $70–$90/yr depending on listing [VERIFY]	Paying mainly for insight features layered on already-free logging

The ready-to-paste starter prompt at the end of this page builds the daily-use version.

What should the first version include?

The first version needs to capture an attack fast, since migraines make detailed data entry hard.

• Attack start with pain scale and symptom tags
• Aura, prodrome, and postdrome phase tracking on the same attack
• Medication doses with times
• A doctor-ready summary for a date range
• CSV export
• Deliberate exclusion: no weather correlation, no AI trigger insights. Both need infrastructure a personal log shouldn’t attempt.

What can AI build reliably?

ChatGPT and Claude build attack logging, phase tracking, and a basic PDF or print summary reliably. It’s structured logging with a few linked fields, well within reach for a single-file app.

Concrete things AI gets right:

• Pain scale plus symptom tags on one attack entry
• Multiple medication doses per attack, each with its own time
• Aura and phase tracking linked correctly to the parent attack
• A date-range summary with accurate counts and averages

Where will AI need human help?

Weather and cycle correlation need your judgment about scope. Weather and barometric pressure correlation requires pulling historical location-based weather data from a paid API and building correlation logic yourself, which is a real cost and engineering lift most personal builds should skip. The starter prompt leaves this out; add it only if you’re willing to pay for a weather API and build the correlation math carefully.

The doctor-ready PDF needs your review before you trust it in an appointment. AI’s first draft of a report layout is rarely as clean as Migraine Buddy’s Migraine Impact Report, so check the summary’s counts and averages against your raw log before handing it to a clinician.

The decision only you can make is whether AI-generated trigger insights matter enough to keep the subscription. Those insights rely on aggregated data science across millions of users, something a personal single-user app fundamentally can’t approximate, no matter how well it’s built.

Privacy matters here, since migraine logs often include medication names and cycle data. Keep it local with no account.

Can I get my data out of Migraine Buddy?

Yes, and it appears to already be free. In-app: Records > Export icon > All Period for CSV, plus two built-in PDF reports reachable via Menu > For My Doctor on iOS or Export my records on Android. Export doesn’t appear gated behind MBplus, based on the developer’s public statement that roughly 95% of the app, including doctor reports, is free [VERIFY].

The export trap: users and a third-party open-source CSV-to-JSON converter for Migraine Buddy exports indicate the native CSV export is raw and needs manual parsing to be useful for analysis, rather than being clean, ready-to-use data [VERIFY].

The practical path: export your CSV, then either use the starter prompt’s Migraine Buddy importer to map fields, or manually re-enter recent attacks if the export proves too messy to parse reliably.

How long will it take and what will it cost?

Rough prototype: 3–4 hours and $0. Attack logging with pain scale, symptoms, and medication doses.

Dependable daily-use version: 8–10 hours, including phase tracking, cycle correlation flags, and a doctor-ready summary. Build it on a free AI plan.

Since most of Migraine Buddy is already free, there’s limited money to actually save here. The real trade is fewer upsell notifications and full data privacy against giving up weather correlation and AI trigger insights you may or may not currently use.

These are estimates from reviewing the feature set, not measurements from a completed build.

Which AI tool or approach should I use?

Claude or ChatGPT on a free plan is enough for the logging, phases, and summary report.

Cursor isn’t necessary for a build this size.

Lovable only matters if you want the weather-correlation feature with a live API connection and hosted backend, which adds real cost and maintenance for a feature Migraine Buddy already includes free in MBplus.

What will I need to maintain?

Light. A couple of files on a free static host.

Recurring work:

• Export a JSON or CSV backup every few months
• Print or re-generate the doctor-ready summary before each appointment
• Review symptom tags occasionally so the list stays useful, not cluttered

Should I build it, buy it, or reduce scope?

Build it if you want private logging and a doctor summary without frequent upsell notifications, and you don’t rely on weather correlation or AI insights.

Buy it if weather-correlation triggers matter to you specifically, or you want AI-generated trigger pattern insights drawn from a much larger dataset than your own.

Reduce scope if you just want a pain diary for your own reference. A plain notes app covers that without any structured build.

Recommendation: build it if logging and a doctor report are your main needs, since that part is already mostly free in Migraine Buddy and easy to replicate privately. Keep MBplus only if weather correlation or AI trigger insights are genuinely useful to you [VERIFY the current price before deciding, since sources disagree]. If you also want to track sleep or general daily notes around your migraines, see the sleep tracker build and the journaling build.

What if I wanted to ship this to other people?

Shipping a migraine tracker to other people means a licensed weather API at scale, aggregated trigger-pattern modeling across many users, and real care around sensitive health and medication data. It’s a much bigger project than a personal log, and it competes with an app that already gives 95% of its value away free.

Starter build specification

• User: You, for your own use, tracking your own migraine attacks.
• Problem: Wanting private attack logging and a doctor-ready summary without frequent MBplus upsell notifications.
• Core workflow: Log an attack as it starts, add pain scale, symptoms, and phases as they develop, log medication doses, generate a summary before a doctor visit.
• Required features: Attack logging, phase tracking, medication doses, cycle flag, doctor-ready summary, CSV export.
• Deliberate exclusions: No weather correlation, no AI trigger insights, no accounts, no social features.
• Data ownership: Stored in localStorage. Exported as JSON and CSV. Imported from JSON or a mapped Migraine Buddy CSV.
• Definition of done: An attack spanning midnight logs as one entry, multiple medication doses per attack are all retained, and the doctor summary correctly counts only attacks in the selected date range.

For scoping help, read can AI build an app for me.

Sources and verification

• MBplus (Migraine Buddy): pricing and MBplus-only feature list.
• Migraine Buddy: Track Headache (App Store): App Store IAP pricing listing.
• Migraine Buddy Help Center: Account & Data: export menu paths.
• Manage Your Migraines: 5 Tips to Prepare for Your First Doctor Visit (Migraine Buddy): doctor report context.

This app was not built and tested for this page. The verdict is based on Migraine Buddy’s own site and help center, App Store listings, and community sources including a third-party CSV converter project. Several price and feature-gating details are marked [VERIFY] because company site and App Store pricing disagree. Migraine Buddy’s price was checked on September 24, 2026.

Reviewed on September 24, 2026.