Vibe Coding: How I Use AI as My Co-Developer
Okay so there’s this term going around right now called “vibe coding.” And yes, it sounds like something a 22-year-old coined after one too many energy drinks, but hear me out — the concept is actually pretty solid.
The idea is that instead of meticulously hand-crafting every line of code, you describe what you want, let AI generate it, check that it doesn’t explode, and keep moving. Less agonizing over syntax, more actually building things. I’ve been doing a version of this for a while now, and it’s genuinely changed how fast I can ship. Let me break down how it actually works (and where it’ll absolutely let you down if you’re not careful).
What Vibe Coding Is (and Isn’t)
Let me clear something up right away: vibe coding is not “let AI write my whole app while I scroll Twitter.” I’ve seen that approach. It ends with a codebase that technically runs but that no human being could ever understand or maintain. That’s not vibe coding, that’s chaos with a loading spinner.
What it actually looks like is pair programming — you’re the senior dev driving the car, AI is the co-pilot reading the map. Extremely useful. Still needs supervision. Will occasionally tell you to turn left into a lake.
The Workflow That Actually Works for Me
I went through a phase of just yolo-ing prompts at AI and wondering why the output was always a mess. Turns out, garbage in, garbage out. Who knew! Here’s the workflow I landed on that actually produces good results:
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Write out what I’m trying to build first. Before I open any AI tool, I spend five minutes writing down exactly what I want and why. This sounds painfully obvious but it stops me from wasting time generating code for the wrong thing.
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Let AI take the first swing. Once I know what I want, I let it draft something. I’m not attached to the output — I just want a starting point. It’s way faster to react to something than to start from a blank file.
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Read it like it’s a stranger’s code. Because honestly, it kind of is. AI-generated code can look totally correct and still be completely wrong for your situation. I read everything, check for edge cases, and refactor anything that doesn’t fit how the rest of the project works. Do not skip this step.
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Iterate in conversation. If it’s not right, I don’t start over — I tell it what’s off and ask it to adjust. This back-and-forth is where you actually save time.
Where AI Is Genuinely Amazing
Boilerplate is where AI earns its keep. Repetitive CRUD functions, config files, form validation, writing tests for code you already wrote — stuff that’s important but mind-numbing to write by hand. That used to eat up big chunks of my day. Now it takes minutes and I get to spend that reclaimed time on the parts that actually require thinking.
It’s also a surprisingly great tutor. When I’m working with a library I’ve never touched before, I’ll paste in the docs and ask AI to explain it to me like I’m a smart person who just doesn’t know this specific thing. No judgment, infinite patience. 10/10.
Where AI Will Absolutely Let You Down
Alright, here’s the part where I save you some pain. AI has no idea what your codebase actually looks like. It doesn’t know your architecture decisions, your constraints, or the weird workaround you put in three months ago that everything else now depends on. It’ll generate code that technically works in isolation and causes subtle chaos in context.
It also hallucinates with full confidence. It will tell you a function exists in a library when it absolutely, definitively does not. It will cite documentation that was never written. It will invent package names. Always verify anything that feels new or unfamiliar — don’t just copy-paste and ship it. I learned this the fun way. “Fun” meaning painful.
The Bottom Line
Vibe coding isn’t a magic shortcut — it’s a mindset shift. If you stay in the driver’s seat, treat AI like a capable-but-needs-checking co-developer, and actually read the code it generates, you’ll move dramatically faster without sacrificing quality.
And if someone asks how you shipped so quickly, you don’t have to tell them about the AI. That can be your little secret. (I’m kidding. Tell people. It’s cool, not cheating.)
How are you using AI in your workflow? Let me know on X/Twitter.