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What is Meant by Vibe Coding?

Vibe coding is the workflow of prompting AI to write 90% of your code while you focus on the product 'vibes'. See how it works with a real workflow example.

"Vibe coding" is a term coined by Andrej Karpathy in early 2025. It describes a new way of building software where you stop writing line-by-line syntax and start managing the AI that writes it for you.

The core idea is simple: You provide the vision (the "vibes"), and the AI handles the implementation.

As Karpathy put it, "The hottest new programming language is English."

But let's be real—what does that actually look like? It's not just "asking ChatGPT a question." It's an iterative loop of prompting, applying, and refining.

The Vibe Coding Workflow

Here is the difference between a junior dev asking for code and a true vibe coder:

1. The Junior Prompt:

"Make a landing page." (Result: Generic, ugly, often broken code.)

2. The Vibe Coder Prompt:

"Create a landing page hero section using our Button and Container components. Use a split layout: big H1 and subtext on the left, 3D placeholder image on the right. Make the background a subtle radial gradient from white to gray-50." (Result: Production-ready code that matches your design system.)

Show Me the Code

In vibe coding, you read code more than you write it. You review the AI's output like a senior engineer reviewing a PR.

For example, if you ask for a "revenue card component," you expect the AI to generate something like this:

import { ArrowUp, DollarSign } from "lucide-react";
import { Card, CardContent, CardHeader, CardTitle } from "@/components/ui/card";

export function RevenueCard({
  amount,
  growth,
}: {
  amount: number;
  growth: number;
}) {
  return (
    <Card>
      <CardHeader className="flex flex-row items-center justify-between space-y-0 pb-2">
        <CardTitle className="text-sm font-medium">Total Revenue</CardTitle>
        <DollarSign className="h-4 w-4 text-muted-foreground" />
      </CardHeader>
      <CardContent>
        <div className="text-2xl font-bold">${amount.toLocaleString()}</div>
        <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">
          <span className="text-green-500 flex items-center gap-1">
            <ArrowUp className="h-3 w-3" /> {growth}%
          </span>{" "}
          from last month
        </p>
      </CardContent>
    </Card>
  );
}

If the AI misses the lucide-react import or forgets the LocaleString formatting, you don't rewrite it manually. You just hit Cmd+K (in Cursor) and type: "Fix imports and format currency."

Why It Matters Now

This shift is huge for Indie Hackers and solo founders. You can essentially act as a technical product manager for an AI engineering team.

  • Speed: Prototyping takes hours, not days.
  • Barrier to Entry: You still need to know what good code looks like, but you don't need to memorize every API.
  • Focus: You spend time on user experience, not debugging types.

The Catch? Vibe coding on a blank canvas is messy. The AI hallucinates files, forgets folder structures, and creates "spaghetti code."

That's why smart vibe coders start with a solid boilerplate. If the project structure, authentication, and database are already set up correctly, the AI has a clear pattern to follow.

Start Vibe Coding the Right Way

Don't start from an empty folder. Give your AI a professional foundation.

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