What Is Vibe Coding? Understanding Its Impact on Modern Development

What is Vibe Coding?

Termed by Andrej Karpathy in February 2025, vibe coding refers to making AI agents write code based on the input of natural language prompts. Users describe the specifications, functionality and demands, and the AI then generates the desired code.

What sets vibe coding apart is the environment it promotes. It offers a working environment with features like a relaxing workspace, ambient music or sound, visually interactive codes, personalized themes, layouts and colors, real-time collaboration and others.

The method facilitates the coders' tasks, saving time and enhancing efficiency. It helps them get into the flow state, thus improving productivity. It uplifts the mood and transforms coding into a fulfilling and enjoyable experience. Hence, the term ‘vibe’ reflects the intuitive, code-free experiences when users focus on the overall feel, goal or outcome.

Why is Vibe Coding Becoming Popular?

Vibe coding is easier and more fun. Here is what’s contributing to its popularity:

• Allows coding with freedom: The coders can focus on their ideas, experimentation and design-oriented thinking to obtain the code rather than focusing on logic, syntax, bug fixing and other tedious tasks. They can express ideas using visuals, designs, storytelling, and other tools.
• Eases the endeavor: The coders can move on to work on the code without worrying about confusion, errors or lack of knowledge. The smart suggestions, visual feedback, and other assistance from AI guide the coders further, encouraging coding.
• Sets the vibe: The vibe coding tools offer distraction-free environments, thus enhancing the productivity of the coders. The tools provide helpful tools, a minimal user interface, and music or visual elements, thus allowing for working with an active mind.
• Encourages real-time collaboration: The developers can code together and collaborate in real-time, offering suggestions, feedback and ideas. This makes coding engaging and less isolating while aligning with the other team members.

Hence, vibe coding's popularity can be attributed to its human-centered, enjoyable, collaborative experience. It encourages beginners to gain understanding through practicals rather than struggling through tedious theory.

How Does Vibe Coding Work?

Vibe coding works by using natural language prompts to instruct AI coding assistants. The prompts are written to provide information about the app or website content, functions, specific details and other information. AI then generates the code to run, test, and refine.

Users can improve code quality by typing in desired modification requests without requiring deep technical knowledge. Hence, building the software is an iterative and intuitive process.

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How to Implement Vibe Coding?

Implementing the vibe coding is simple. Here is how to proceed:

Step 1: Select the Right AI Coding Assistant Tool

The first step is to choose the AI coding assistant tool. With multiple options, the choice should be based on your experience with code, the project's technical complexity, support towards your preferred programming languages and frameworks, integration capabilities and their cost. 

Step 2: Clarify Your Project’s Requirements

Now, tell the AI what website or app code you need. It will include indicating the functionality of the app and the features it will possess. However, state the same in simple language. An example is ‘Build a web app that lets users write journal entries and saves them in local storage.’

Step 3: Refine the Generated Code

The chosen AI will transform the prompt mentioned above into working code. The code will comprise appropriate options such as a text input box for writing, a section displaying saved entries and others.

Now, you will use the provided options to test the code's functionality. You can save the entries, check the stored and displayed data, and meet other relevant requirements. You can make the required changes if something seems off, wrong, or missing.

For instance, you can ask AI to add the ability to delete entries or include the option to highlight. The AI will optimize the code as per the prompts without the requirement to go through each line of the code and make changes manually.

Step 4: Final Review and Deployment

After your final review and satisfaction, the code can now be processed for deployment.

Real-Life Examples of Vibe Coding

The real-world examples of vibe coding are: 

1. Portfolio Website: Michael Lembo built it using Lovable. The website offers a customized chatbot that provides details about Michael based on visitors' questions.
2. SEO Calculator: Tim Metz built it using Cursor. The app works for Animalz. It answers the leads’ questions and guides them to the next step of buying the product.
3. Lambo Levels: Joe Frabota built it using ChatGPT and Lovable. It assists in checking possible crypto gains on specific tokens. However, it does not work as a portfolio tracker.
4. ttyl: It was built by Robinson Greig using Cursor. The app allows sending a voice message to oneself, setting a date to receive the message on the provided number, or getting the message on a random day by selecting the option ‘surprise me’.

Tools that Enable Vibe Coding

The key tools that enable vibe coding, i.e., coding simply from the plain English prompt, are as follows:

Beginner Vibe Coding Tools 

The beginner vibe coding tools include:

1. Lovable

Previously known as GPTEngineer, this AI platform allows the creation of frontend and user interfaces. It also allows backend points with API key protection, user authentication, data storage and retrieval, and app deployment with live hosting. 

Further, users can also expect custom domain support, real-time collaboration, and a guide to begin developing the app or website. With Lovable, the users can integrate their developed products with tools like Supabase and Stripe.

2. v0 

This AI tool can build full-stack web applications, landing pages, data analysis tools, blogs, keyword research tools, customer support tools, and more. Besides allowing for putting in different prompts, it also refines the same. v0 offers suggestions, visual design blocks, and working codes. It provides product-ready React code and styles using Tailwind CSS and allows quick prototyping of the UI designs.

Intermediate Vibe Coding Tools 

The intermediate vibe coding tools are: 

3. Bolt

It is a browser-based AI tool that helps build full-stack applications without downloading any applications. It assists in writing, running, editing, and app deployment. It allows complete app development by enabling package installation, running Node.js servers, file management, working with APIs, and app deployments. Bolt also allows the development of AI-powered agents using its open-source Bolt codebase.

4. Replit 

It is an effective AI assistant that creates websites or apps using language commands and pictures, like screenshots. Replit learns from public code examples. It offers a production-grade, pre-configured, scalable database. The product also comes already connected with the developed, thus eliminating the requirement for additional installation or setup.

Users can also integrate authentication methods, such as user signups and logins, into the developed product with major apps like Google. Apps and websites developed by Replit also exhibit multiple other security measures.

Advanced Vibe Coding Tools

Some of the advanced vibe coding tools include:

5. Cursor 

It is a smart AI-enhanced code editor. It comprises an AI chat sidebar called Compsore that assists in writing, editing and understanding the codes efficiently. It offers code suggestions, exhibits contextual understanding and provides assistance based on where the cursor is. Users can also add code blocks to the conversation.

Additionally, Cursor can fix typographic errors, rewrite the code, perform multiple edits simultaneously, write and run terminal codes, offer answers from the web and add images for context.

6. Windsurf

It is also an advanced AI tool that can be used as an IDE or a Visual Studio Code extension. Windsurf enhances productivity through contextual understanding and real-time awareness of the code. It offers features like smart writing and editing, real-time collaboration, performing tests and debugging through natural language prompts.

This AI tool works with both new codes and imported VS Code settings. One of Windsurf's key features is Cascade Write Mode, which lets users generate multiple files simultaneously. It helps debug issues, run automated tests, optimize documentation, and more.

Vibe Coding Demo

With vibe coding explained along with the tools, let’s understand how to perform it.

Vibe Coding With GitHub Copilot

Here are the steps to perform vibe coding with GitHub Copilot:

• Download Visual Studio Code - Insiders
• Get the GitHub Copilot extensions
• Sign up or log into the tool
• Enable ‘Agent’ mode in Copilot
• Input the desired prompt to get the code

How Can Cursor AI Help in Vibe Coding?

Here are the steps to follow to perform vibe coding with Cursor AI:

• Download the Cursor application depending on your operating system
• Run the installer file and launch the Cursor AI
• Configure the AI by accepting the defaults and Sign Up/Login
• Open the AI prompt or chat and input the description of the app or website you need
• Press ‘Enter’ or click the ‘Generate’ button, and you will get the code as per the request if working in a fresh file
• For typing the prompt in an already existing file, AI will show the changes
• Check the code and click ‘Accept’ or ‘Apply’ if the results suit your needs. The new code will be highlighted in green to help you distinguish and understand clearly. If you need changes in the results, refine the prompt. You can also manually edit the code
• After accepting the code, run it and test the output. If you face any error during the procedure, ask Cursor AI to fix it by stating the error

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Building a To-Do List App With GitHub Copilot

Let's have a step-by-step approach to build a To-Do list app via vibe coding with GitHub Copilot:

Step 1: Download and Install VS Code - Insiders

Go to the VS Code Insiders download page and install it. It is necessary to access GitHub Copilot’s Agent mode.

Step 2: Set Up GitHub Copilot 

Launch VS Code Insiders, and the copilot onboarding screen will appear. Ensure to install the GitHub Copilot extension and sign in to GitHub. Also, enable ‘Agent’ mode rather than Copilot chat mode.

Step 3: Start the To-Do Project

Open a blank folder in VS Code and put in the prompt:

Now, the agent will develop the project using App.js components and index.js. 

Step 4: Refine the Code

It will involve adding any missing aspect, such as CSS styling, local storage or others as required.

Step 5: Run the App

Once you finalize the code, ask the ‘Agent’ to run the code. Type in the following prompt:

Now, follow the provided steps to run. As you check the final version, you can type in the relevant prompts to make any necessary changes.

You can also debug with Copilot. For this, simply copy the error message and type the following prompt:

Limitations of Vibe Coding

Some of the challenges faced with vibe coding include: 

• AI gives back the code or results that may contain complex technical terms and concepts that are incomprehensible to non-technical users
• AI tools can generate simple codes and handle basic requests. Working on complex technical requirements may not offer quality results
• Certain apps may not provide complete coding solutions
• Maintenance of the app and optimization will pose challenges, as it requires in-depth technical handling
• Deployment or publishing the app online is complex with certain coding tools
• The dynamic nature of the AI-developed code makes it difficult to debug
• Certain AI-based apps lack security from DDoS attacks, spam attacks and other security aspects

The Potential of Vibe Coding in the Future

Vibe coding is a helpful concept to convert ideas into code. With simple language-based prompts to develop functional apps or websites, some even offer deployment-ready products. Vibe coding can be promising AI-powered helpers, allow quick and efficient results, provide feedback and suggestions, and be an effective tool to enhance the productivity and creativity of coders. They are also helpful in team collaboration to develop quality apps or websites.

Yet, their future as a definite replacement for traditional coders is still a long way to go. It poses numerous significant limitations and challenges. The inability to develop complex products, outdated databases, and poor security considerations require focus and improvement. Hence, vibe coding is a promising technology that needs to be refined for proper acceptance.

Conclusion

Vibe coding has lowered the barrier between humans and programming. Eliminating the need to get into the core has made the development of apps and websites enjoyable. Whether you are a beginner exploring web development or professional streamlining workflows, vibe coding tools have eased software development for everyone. However, while the potential is worthy, certain complications remain to be addressed. With continued refinement, vibe coding holds a promising future as an effective and efficient code development method.

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FAQs

1. What does vibe coding mean?

Vibe coding is an app or website development method instructing AI to write the code. It only requires a description of the code requirements in natural language. The vibe coding AI assistant also offers features to set the mood, such as interactive visual elements, soft background music, and the ability to turn off notifications or other features. These help set the vibe and get coders in a flow state of work.

2. How to start with vibe coding?

Define the project plan and subsequently choose the appropriate vibe coding tool. Now, type in the specific requirements and have the code generated by AI.

3. Is vibe coding safe?

Vibe coding is an easier and more effective alternative to traditional coding, but it comes with certain risks. It may contain vulnerabilities, exposing the systems to malicious attacks and contributing to personal data leaks. Vibe coding may also result in a link to outdated libraries.

4. Is vibe coding a job?

Yes, vibe coding is now required in job descriptions by multiple top companies. It is becoming an in-demand skill for recruiters to hire.

5. How to vibe code correctly?

To ensure correct vibe coding, be clear with the specific requirements regarding the code. Plan the project, define clear rules, and choose the vibe coding tool accordingly. Also, test the key aspects and refine the code as required.

6. Which tool is best for vibe coding?

Some of the best tools for vibe coding include Lovable, Cursor, v0, Base44, Bolt, and others.