Vibe Coding is a software development practice assisted by artificial intelligence (AI) where the developer describes the outcome through prompts, trusting that the system will figure out the rest.

Instead of carefully designing solutions, you prompt, generate, test, tweak, and repeat. The software begins to take shape quickly, features appear almost instantly, and progress feels effortless. It’s tempting to rely on results and follow-up prompts to guide changes whilst accepting AI-generated code without thorough review.

ORIGIN

The term vibe coding was coined by Andrej Karpathy in 2025 to describe a new style of development enabled by AI systems. In this approach, developers and designers rely on natural language prompts rather than writing detailed code themselves, effectively “giving in to the vibes” and letting the system generate solutions.

The appeal is obvious. Software can be created faster, with less technical friction, and by a much broader range of people. The barrier to entry drops, and the pace of experimentation increases dramatically.

However, a defining characteristic of true vibe coding is that the creator often accepts solutions without fully understanding how they work. The process shifts from building with intention to steering through intuition. The system produces results, and the human guides it – sometimes without ever fully grasping what’s underneath.

WHEN

You’ve encountered Vibe Coding when:

• AI writes most of the implementation: You prompt more than you code.
• Solutions are accepted without full understanding: It works, but explaining it feels optional.
• Debugging becomes prompting: Instead of fixing issues directly, you ask the AI to fix them for you.
• Progress is driven by iteration, not clarity: Each step moves forward, but the overall structure gets fuzzier.
• Confidence comes from output, not validation: If it runs, it’s considered good enough.
• You hear: “Let’s just try this”: And then keep trying until something sticks.

If understanding is replaced by momentum, you’re probably vibing.

WHY

Vibe Coding is incredibly seductive. The following list describes some of the reasons why vibe coding is so seductive:

• It feels productive: The app keeps growing with every prompt.
• It feels fast: Hours of work become minutes.
• It feels empowering: People can build software without years of technical training.

But the speed and power creates a trap: When the software appears to work, it’s easy to skip understanding, testing, and verification.

The result is what Teresa Torres calls the Vibe Coding Doom Loop:

• Prompt.
• Generate.
• Discover a problem.
• Prompt again.
• Create two new problems.
• Prompt again.

“Progress” continues, confidence remains high, code quality quietly leaves the building.

HOW

Vibe Coding works best when it’s treated as a starting point, not a destination. Use the following guardrails to stay in control while vibe coding:

• Get clear before you generate
  AI is much better at implementing a well-defined idea than guessing what you mean.

• Review before you trust
  Working software is not the same as correct software.

• Understand the critical pieces
  If you can’t explain how it works, you won’t know how to fix it.

• Test aggressively
  The AI generated the code. The responsibility is still yours.

• Expect mistakes
  AI agents make errors, hallucinate solutions, and introduce vulnerabilities. Plan for this instead of being surprised by it.

• Use vibes for exploration
  Use engineering for production.

The goal isn’t to eliminate vibe coding. The goal is to prevent vibe coding from becoming your architecture.

PRO TIP

Know your goal and start with a well thought-out plan. Vibe-code ideas to adjust the journey. Remember that if you can’t explain why it works, you’re not done yet.

EXAMPLES

• A designer builds a prototype in an afternoon and spends three weeks debugging it
• A startup launches an AI-generated MVP nobody can maintain
• A team repeatedly asks the AI to fix bugs introduced by previous AI fixes
• A feature works perfectly during the demo and catastrophically in production
• A developer says: “Don’t touch that file. I have no idea what’s in there.”

CONCLUSION

Vibe Coding represents a shift in how software is created. It lowers the barrier to entry, accelerates experimentation, and enables rapid progress in ways that were previously impossible. At the same time, it introduces a new kind of risk: the separation of building from understanding.

The challenge is not to avoid vibe coding, but to recognize its limits. Used well, it is a powerful tool for exploration and momentum. Used blindly, it creates fragile systems built on assumptions rather than insight.

The vibe may get you to launch. Understanding is what keeps it running.