Vibe coding 101: How to build software by talking to AI (without setting your project on fire)

The explosive rise of large language models (LLMs) has given birth to a new kind of developer: the vibe coder. Unlike the meticulous, line-by-line craftsperson of an earlier era, the vibe coder engages in a conversational dance with an AI partner. You describe what you want in plain English, the AI generates code, and you refine together until it feels right.

The term itself, coined by Andrej Karpathy in early 2025, has since landed in Merriam-Webster’s “slang & trending” section. And it fits: vibe coding is messy, intuitive, and often chaotic. On good days, you go from idea to working prototype in an afternoon. On bad days, you watch your elegant 2,000-line app metastasize into an unreadable 18,000-line dumpster fire of nested try/catch blocks.

Reddit threads and Discord chats are full of war stories. But beyond the anecdotes, vibe coding is a genuine shift in how software is written—a shift that makes development more accessible but also demands new skills and disciplines.

This article combines a hands-on beginner tutorial with professional best practices to show both the magic and the minefields of vibe coding.

What vibe coding is (and isn’t)

At its heart, vibe coding is an iterative loop:

You describe your goal in natural language.
The AI generates code.
You run it, observe what happens.
You refine your instructions.

This workflow can be applied in two ways:

Pure vibe coding: ideal for weekend experiments or personal hacks where speed matters more than structure.
Responsible AI-assisted development: the AI acts as a copilot, but the human retains responsibility for design, testing, and quality.

That duality is important. Vibe coding doesn’t replace foundational skills—it elevates them. Your role shifts from line-by-line coder to orchestrator and reviewer.

Your first vibe coding project: vanilla style

Let’s start at the absolute basics. No IDEs, no GitHub Copilot, no Replit. Just ChatGPT and a text editor.

We’re going to build a quote generator web app you can run in your browser.

Step 1: Set the brief

Paste this into ChatGPT:

You are my coding partner. I’m a beginner. Please generate a single-file web app (index.html) that shows a random inspirational quote from a small built-in list.

Requirements:
- One big quote on screen, author below.
- Button: “New quote”.
- Button: “⭐ Save to favorites” stores the current quote in localStorage.
- A collapsible “Favorites” section listing saved quotes with a “Copy” button per quote.
- Clean, readable layout; no external libraries; comments in code.
After the code, include a “How to run” note for non-programmers.

Step 2: Run it

Copy the response into a file called index.html.
Double-click it. The app opens in your browser.

Step 3: Refine

Not happy with the layout? Say:

It works, but the layout looks cramped on mobile. Make the buttons larger with more spacing and ensure the quote text is responsive. Keep it a single file.

Run the new version. Iterate.

Step 4: Extend

Want more features? Add:

Add a “Remove” button next to each favorite. Also add a counter that shows “Favorites (N)”.

You now have a working app created entirely by conversing with an AI. That’s vanilla vibe coding.

Five rules for avoiding the dumpster fire

Here’s where things usually go wrong—and how to avoid it.

1. The Three-Strike Rule

If the AI fails to fix something after three attempts, stop. Start a fresh chat, describe what you want (not what’s broken), and rebuild.

2. Context windows are not your friend

After ~10 back-and-forths, models forget the plot. Save your code, start a new session, paste only the relevant snippet. This resets the AI’s “mental state.”

3. The “Explain Like I’m Five” test

If you can’t describe the bug in one sentence, the AI can’t fix it. “Button doesn’t save user data” is good. “The data flow is weird” is not.

4. Version control is your escape hatch

Commit after every working feature. Not daily. Not weekly. Every feature. Treat commits as rollback points.

5. The nuclear option

If you’ve been on the same bug for two hours, burn it down. Copy the core logic somewhere safe, delete the broken part, and have the AI rebuild from scratch. It’s faster than debugging brittle AI spaghetti.

Beyond anecdotes: professional best practices

These survival rules come from frustration, but they map onto a professional framework for AI-assisted coding:

Start simple. Begin with minimal, clear prompts.
Iterate fast. Generate → test → refine. Don’t chase perfection upfront.
Ask questions. Use AI as a tutor, not just a code factory.
Test constantly. Never trust code you haven’t run.
Document prompts. Keep track of instructions and changes for future work.
Stay in control. AI is a copilot; you’re still the architect.

Vibe coding vs. traditional development

Vibe coding is not a wholesale replacement for traditional methods. Think of it as the other end of the spectrum:

Traditional coding: meticulous control, structured methods, robust QA. Best for large-scale, mission-critical systems.
Vibe coding: speed, simplicity, conversational creativity. Best for prototypes, small-to-medium apps, or rapid iteration.

Both will coexist. The real skill is knowing which tool to use when.

The risks: debugging, security, and technical debt

AI assistants are great at boilerplate, but bad at complex debugging. They hallucinate fixes, introduce security vulnerabilities (SQL injection, XSS, hardcoded secrets), and rack up technical debt if left unchecked.

That’s why the human role—reviewing, testing, and guarding quality—is more important than ever. The AI writes code fast; you make sure it’s safe, secure, and sensible.

The symbiosis

Vibe coding lowers barriers, accelerates prototyping, and reframes the developer’s job. You don’t stop being a programmer—you become something more: an orchestrator, an auditor, a teacher to your AI copilot. The rules—stop after three strikes, reset often, simplify your bug reports, commit obsessively, and know when to burn it down—aren’t just survival hacks. They’re the foundation of a new discipline.

Follow them, and vibe coding feels like a superpower. Ignore them, and you’ll quickly learn why so many Reddit threads read like tales of infinite-loop despair. The future of software development isn’t human or AI. It’s both, working in symbiosis. And the vibe coder is right at that frontier.