Learn to Vibe Code Fast

The 10x System that Made Me 100k More Valuable

The greatest products of the decade will be built by those who understand how to wield intelligence at scale.

AI-powered programming closes the gap between your ability to imagine and your ability to execute.

AI-powered programming gives us the power to be extraordinary creators. Writers can now write code. Coders can now write. Citizens can now do deep scientific research.

Whether you’re a beginner or a senior dev looking to speed up your workflow with AI, I’m going to guide you through my process.

AI-powered Coding Tool I use in this project: Cursor IDE

1. Write your idea down

Write with maximum detail.

Let it all out

Dump your brain onto the page. Write down everything you know about your idea. Don’t try to edit it.

Answer these questions if you’re stuck:

• What problem are you solving?

• What value are you delivering?

• What workflow are you making easier?

• What cool experience are you building?

• What would you build if there were no technical limitations?

• Who experiences the problem? (Even if it’s just you)

• What does success look like? How would you know if you succeeded?

• Write down how you are visualizing the flow of your app. What screens come up as you move through it?

Example idea: "I want to build a website that essentially doubles as a personal blog and resume. In it, I would like to showcase my web development and content creation skills. It should use innovative design to add and remove HTML elements in seamless ways. It should be like a beautiful puzzle."

The Mental Walkthrough

Create a mental walkthrough of how the flow looks. Start with your user's first breath in your app's universe. Tell yourself the story.

Screen Flow Narrative:

1. Landing screen: What's the first thing they see? What emotion should they feel?

2. Core action: What's the main thing they come to do?

3. Success state: How do they know they've accomplished something?

4. Return hook: What brings them back tomorrow?

Example flow:

1. Professional hero → Name/title assembly + "Full-Stack Developer" emphasis →
2. Email capture → "Get My Technical Portfolio Deep-Dive" (shows code quality) →
3. Interactive skills matrix → Click to reveal proficiency levels + real project examples →
4. Problem-solving showcase → Live code demos that build on screen →
5. GitHub integration → Contribution graph that morphs into project highlights →
6. Experience timeline → Companies/roles that slide into view with impact metrics →
7. Contact optimization → "Let's discuss your next hire" CTA

The Visual Walkthrough

Use Lovable or Figma to begin visualizing your idea. I used the ideas above and Lovable to create this. Pretty close huh!? If you don’t want to spend a ton of time on Figma, Lovable is an easy way to get up and running.

2. Revise your idea with AI

Once you have your idea, and you’ve revised it several times, and added detail everywhere possible, ask an AI to refine it and create a plan for development. Check the AI’s revision thoughtfully; you don’t want AI to create anything outside of your vision.

Here’s what a sample prompt could look like:

Revise this idea, and flesh out details where it is missing them. 
Remember, you are going to eventually communicate this to an AI model and you want to make it understandable to other programmers. Ask me questions if anything is unclear. 

If your idea is good enough, watch out. The tool could go off the rails and just write the app. Don’t let your AI do this. Explicitly command it not to.

The result

3. Create a project description file

This file will describe to your AI exactly what you are trying to build. It will help it keep the high-level picture in mind as it builds. This is the place where your ideas are converted into a format that is understandable by AI.

Something I suggest is that you open your favorite AI tool, copy all the notes that you wrote in the previous step, and paste them below a prompt similar to this:

Help me build a project description using scaffolding best-practices for AI for my idea. Think hard and step by step about the overall architecture and make the important considerations that a programmer would make. Ask me any questions you need to clarify until we arrive at an acceptable and detailed project description for an AI.

Here is my idea:

[Insert your refined idea description here]

Add the file in your IDE. This is your README.md file, where you describe what the project is. Remember, you will be creating one feature at a time and you will NOT give this README.md file and give it to the AI to build all at once.

If you’re in the game of sustainable building and real programming, you won’t aim for uncontrollable prototypes. You’ll build Rome one brick at a time.

Whenever, possible you should always maintain an understanding of the structure of your project. When AI writes too many lines of code, you lose control. I always make an effort to understand what is happening and maintain the system architecture in my brain and in diagrams.

Curious about how AI reasons? Check this article out.

4. Create the Plan

If you already know how to program, it will be easy for you to create an implementation plan. If you do not, it is valuable to ask an AI to create the plan for you. Again, you first need to give your AI a very solid description of what you are going to build.

The plan will ground you. The plan will force you to build one feature at a time in a sustainable way. If you have any luck, your AI will teach you how to build out a program that is modular, extensible, and that accounts for any features that will be added down the line. Here is a prompt that works:

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Planning Prompt

You are a senior software engineer, systems architect, and product designer.
Help me turn this idea into a high-quality implementation plan, balancing modularity, scalability, and excellent user experience.

Step-by-step, do the following:

1. Break down the product into core and optional features.

2. Design for the user — justify each feature and UX decision based on user needs, emotional flow, and friction reduction.

3. Create a frontend plan:

   • Define each screen and user interaction.

   • List reusable components.

   • Explain state management and how data will flow.

   • Justify UI choices in terms of usability, clarity, and responsiveness.

4. Design the backend and API:

   • Choose a database type (SQL, NoSQL) and explain why.

   • Define the database schema and key tables or collections.

   • List REST or GraphQL endpoints.

   • Explain how backend logic supports business rules and UI needs.

5. Plan for extensibility and modularity:

   • Identify core modules.

   • Define clear interfaces and boundaries.

   • Suggest how to decouple features for future growth.

6. Add quality and testing from the start:

   • Suggest unit, integration, and end-to-end tests for critical paths.

   • Recommend testing tools or frameworks.

   • Show how to structure the codebase to make testing easy and automatic.

   • Include validation and error-handling considerations.

7. Justify each decision along the way:

   • For every major choice (framework, DB, UI flow), give a clear reason why it's optimal for this use case.

   • Include tradeoffs and alternative options if relevant.

Output should include:

• A prioritized feature roadmap

• Suggested folder/file structure (frontend + backend)

• Initial database schema and explanation

• Key frontend component structure and user flow

• API spec with endpoints, inputs, and outputs

• Recommended libraries/tools

• Testing strategy and where to add test coverage

• Open questions or assumptions to revisit

4.5 Optional Frontend & Databases Overview (For Beginners)

Frontend (The User’s Highway)

This is where your user interacts with your application.
This is the set of screens, buttons, menus, and animations your user sees.
It’s the highway your users take to achieve their goals.
So, make it smooth, beautiful, and intuitive.

Your frontend’s job is to:

• Display information (e.g. user data, product lists)

• Capture user input (e.g. forms, clicks)

• Communicate with the backend to make things happen (e.g. save, update, retrieve)

Backend (The Hidden Engine Room)

This is where your app’s logic lives. It handles decisions, rules, and workflows behind the scenes.

Examples:

• A user clicks “Submit” → the backend saves the data to your database.

• A user slays 100 monsters → the backend upgrades their level.

• A user logs in → the backend checks if their credentials are valid.

You can think of backend logic as the game master that designs and enforces the rules.

Databases

A database is how your application remembers things.
It stores data about users, actions, settings, and more… in a structured way.

Think of databases like your brain:

• You remember people’s names (usernames)

• Where you left your keys (user preferences)

• Or how many monsters you’ve defeated (game stats)

Just like different memory systems in the brain, different databases serve different needs.

Quick Database Decision Guide (for Beginners)

Use SQLite if:

• You’re building something small and structured (like a blog, to-do list, or habit tracker)

• You want a file-based, lightweight system that’s easy to set up

• You’re learning SQL or relational databases for the first time

Use MongoDB if:

• Your data is flexible or irregular (e.g. a store where each product has different attributes)

• You want to move fast without designing a rigid schema upfront

• You’re building something rapidly that changes often

Use Vector Databases (like Pinecone or ChromaDB) when:

• You’re building AI features like search, recommendations, or natural language understanding

• You want your app to “find similar” things (like documents, images, or messages)

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Once you have those fundamentals ready to go, it’s time to get started!!

5. Start coding (ONE FEATURE AT A TIME)

This is where you bring your vision to life. Reminder: create one feature at a time. In your planning phase, you should design a roadmap that makes strategic sense. If you’re not sure where to start, ask your AI tool where to start. Always, explicitly ask for one feature at a time and ask it to not go beyond that.

Keep returning to the core components of your code base. Use systems thinking frameworks like UML and SysML to keep track of the components and functions in your code. Understand your database schemas and the objects in your program. Understand the overarching structure of it all.

The core fact to know here is that the frontend of your application is just interacting with your database. It’s just calling the data stored in your database and presenting it in a form that the user can easily understand and leverage.

Whenever you are confused, or your code base is overwhelming you, ask AI about what it has done and why. If there is a term you don’t know, learn it. If there is a fuzzy connection, make it concrete in your mind. You can do this.

AI-Powered Programming Prompts for Feature Development

The Foundation Prompt (Use Before Each Feature)

You are my programming partner. I want to build [SPECIFIC FEATURE] for my [PROJECT TYPE].

Before we write any code, help me think through:
1. What is this feature actually trying to accomplish for the user?
2. How does this fit into my existing architecture?
3. What are the 2-3 key technical decisions I need to make?
4. What could go wrong, and how do we prevent it?

Only after we align on these fundamentals, write the minimal code needed to make this feature work. Explain your architectural choices as you code.

My current tech stack: [LIST YOUR STACK]
My existing project structure: [PASTE YOUR FOLDER STRUCTURE]
The feature I want to build: [DETAILED DESCRIPTION]

The Feature Planning Prompt

Let's architect this feature together. I want to build [FEATURE NAME].

Step 1: Help me break this down into the smallest possible working version.
Step 2: Identify what new components, functions, or database changes we need.
Step 3: Map out how this feature will interact with my existing code.
Step 4: Suggest the order of implementation - what should I build first?

Don't write code yet. Just help me think through the architecture. Ask me questions if anything is unclear about my existing system or requirements.

Current feature: [DESCRIPTION]
Expected user flow: [DESCRIBE THE EXPERIENCE]

The Component Design Prompt

I need to create a [COMPONENT TYPE] that [SPECIFIC FUNCTION].

Before coding, let's design this component's interface:
- What props/parameters does it need?
- What data does it return or display?
- How does it handle edge cases and errors?
- What makes this component reusable for future features?

Then write the component with:
1. Clear, semantic naming
2. Proper error handling
3. Comments explaining the business logic (not just what the code does)
4. A simple example of how to use it

Component purpose: [DESCRIBE WHAT IT DOES]
Required functionality: [LIST REQUIREMENTS]

The Database Integration Prompt

I need to [CREATE/UPDATE/QUERY] data for [SPECIFIC USE CASE].

Let's think through the data model first:
- What fields do I actually need?
- How does this relate to my existing database schema?
- What queries will be most common?
- How do I handle data validation and constraints?

Then help me write:
1. The database schema/model definition
2. The query functions with proper error handling
3. Input validation and sanitization
4. A simple test to verify it works

Show me how this fits into my existing data architecture.

Data requirements: [DESCRIBE WHAT DATA YOU'RE WORKING WITH]
Current database schema: [PASTE RELEVANT PARTS]

The API Design Prompt

I'm building an API endpoint for [SPECIFIC FUNCTIONALITY].

Let's design this endpoint strategically:
- What's the most intuitive URL and HTTP method?
- What request/response format makes sense?
- How do we handle authentication and authorization?
- What error responses should users expect?
- How does this fit with my existing API patterns?

Then write the endpoint with:
1. Clear request/response documentation
2. Input validation and sanitization
3. Proper error handling and status codes
4. A simple test case

Endpoint purpose: [DESCRIBE THE FUNCTIONALITY]
Expected usage: [HOW WILL CLIENTS USE THIS?]

The Frontend Integration Prompt

I need to connect my [FRONTEND COMPONENT] to [BACKEND FUNCTIONALITY].

Let's plan the integration:
- What data does the frontend need from the backend?
- How should we handle loading states and errors?
- What's the user experience if something goes wrong?
- How do we keep the UI responsive?

Then help me implement:
1. The API calls with proper error handling
2. State management for loading/success/error states
3. User feedback for all possible outcomes
4. Clean separation between UI and data logic

Frontend component: [DESCRIBE THE COMPONENT]
Backend endpoint: [DESCRIBE THE API]
User experience goals: [WHAT SHOULD THE USER FEEL?]

The Testing and Validation Prompt

I just built [FEATURE NAME]. Help me make sure it actually works reliably.

Let's create tests that verify:
1. The happy path works as expected
2. Edge cases are handled gracefully
3. Error conditions provide helpful feedback
4. The feature integrates properly with existing code

Write tests that are:
- Easy to understand and maintain
- Fast to run
- Focused on behavior, not implementation details

Then suggest 3-5 manual tests I should do to verify the user experience.

Feature to test: [DESCRIBE THE FEATURE]
Critical user flows: [LIST THE IMPORTANT PATHS]

The Debugging Partnership Prompt

I'm encountering [SPECIFIC PROBLEM] with [FEATURE/COMPONENT].

Let's debug this systematically:
1. First, help me reproduce the issue reliably
2. Then, let's trace through what should happen vs. what's actually happening
3. Finally, let's identify the root cause and fix it properly

Don't just give me a quick fix - help me understand why this happened and how to prevent similar issues.

Error message: [PASTE THE ERROR]
What I expected: [DESCRIBE EXPECTED BEHAVIOR]
What actually happens: [DESCRIBE ACTUAL BEHAVIOR]
Relevant code: [PASTE THE PROBLEMATIC CODE]

The Code Review Prompt

I just implemented [FEATURE NAME]. Please review my code as my senior programming partner.

Evaluate:
1. Code clarity and maintainability
2. Performance and efficiency
3. Security and error handling
4. How well it fits with my existing architecture
5. Potential future issues

Be honest but constructive. Suggest specific improvements and explain why they matter.

Code to review: [PASTE YOUR CODE]
Feature description: [WHAT IT DOES]

The Refactoring Prompt

My [COMPONENT/FEATURE] works, but it's getting messy. Help me refactor it to be cleaner and more maintainable.

Current issues I see:
- [LIST YOUR CONCERNS]

Let's refactor this to:
1. Improve readability and organization
2. Eliminate duplication
3. Make it easier to test and extend
4. Follow best practices for my tech stack

Show me the refactored version and explain the key improvements.

Current code: [PASTE CODE TO REFACTOR]
Specific pain points: [DESCRIBE WHAT'S BOTHERING YOU]

6. Debug and Iterate

Everyone is doing this is by copying error messages from the command line back into the AI chat window and letting AI do it’s thing. You should do more than that. Understand what’s happening. Try to reproduce your bugs. Often, bugs are caused by:

• Old & incompatible libraries

• Hallucinated API keys

• AI duplicating objects and modules

This is why you need to test your app after every feature gets built and ensure there are no redundancies in the code.

Mitigation Strategies

• Every three features, ask AI to find areas where it repeated itself

• Keep the architectural picture in mind and in diagrams

• Use the prompts listed above

Why this matters more than you think

The greatest products of the decade will be built by those who understand how to wield intelligence at scale. Programming applications is now easier than ever. If you can master this art, you can change your life.

• Build agents

• Design new experiences

• Create dashboards that drive decisions

• Leverage the power of organized code to ideate new products

The world is yours now. Go out there and seize this opportunity.

Your next move

Build your dream project. Share what you’re building with everyone in the comments below.

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Tune in to learn how to build a Personal Operating System with AI using MCP next week.

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