Vibe coding for beginners: from zero to your first app
Vibe coding means you describe in plain words what you want, and AI writes the code. You look at the result, say what to fix, and go round again. The term was coined by AI researcher Andrej Karpathy in February 2025. Think of yourself as a producer and the AI as the programmer: the producer doesn't play every instrument but decides what the track will be. Your job is to decide what to build, check that it works and choose what comes next.
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Lesson: vibe coding, what it is and how to build sites with AI
What you can build and what you need
A landing page (a one-page site), a Telegram bot, a calculator, a mini game, a habit tracker or a portfolio. To start you need a browser and a free account in an AI tool. Free plans have limits, but they are usually enough for first projects.
Step 0: pick the right kind of tool
AI coding tools come in three kinds:
- Builder: describe it in words and get a working site right in the browser. Lovable, Bolt, v0, Replit. Fastest start, nothing to install, less control. Ideal for a prototype or a landing page.
- AI editor: the project is open as files, and AI suggests edits next to you. Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code with Copilot. You see every change and accept it or not.
- Agent: gets a task and changes files and runs commands itself. Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI work in the terminal. Most power, but without Git and checking the result it's easy to lose a working version.
A route that works: build the first prototype in a builder, export the code to GitHub, then continue in an editor or with an agent. Common mistake: jumping to a new trendy tool every day. One finished project beats five abandoned ones. Lesson: builder, editor or agent
Step 1: a one-page plan
AI doesn't read minds. Ask for "a gym tracker" and you may get payments, chat and a leaderboard when you only wanted to log workouts. Five lines save hours: the goal in one sentence, who it's for, three main features, what you are not building now, and how you'll know it's done. Lesson: plan first
Step 2: describe the result, one feature at a time
Not "make a website" but what exactly: "One-page site for a coffee shop: menu, address, an order button to Telegram, dark theme, works well on a phone." Then ask for one feature at a time: the skeleton first, then the menu, then the form. A small step is easy to check and easy to undo. When something breaks, paste the whole error, not "it doesn't work". Lesson: how to give AI a task
Step 3: save, roll back, deploy
Save each working version (version history in the tool, or Git) so you can roll back when a new step breaks things. Deploy, meaning publishing the project so others can open it by link, is the last step, once everything is checked. Today you connect a GitHub repository to a host once, and every push to the main branch deploys the new version by itself. Lesson: hosting and deploy
Step 4: test it yourself
"Done, everything works!" from an agent is not proof. It may not have run the code, or it may have broken a neighbouring page. Open the preview on your phone and computer. Try the normal path first, then the weird stuff: an empty month, a very long name, a double tap on a button. Things usually break on the weird stuff. Ask the agent to write automated tests for each new feature. Lesson: don't take its word for it
Why vibe coding gets a bad name: 4 mistakes
AI writes code that works but isn't always safe. These four mistakes cause most of the horror stories:
1. A key in the code. An API key in the page code or a public repository gets found by bots that scan GitHub, and you pay for their requests. Secrets live only on the server. Leaked a key? Revoke it right away and create a new one. Lesson: keys and secrets
2. A database with no access rules. Anyone can download everyone's data.
3. An admin page hidden by removing the button. The /admin address can still be typed by hand. The "is this really an admin?" check must happen on the server on every request.
4. Trusting the browser. With developer tools (F12) a user can change any request: the price, their user id, the "admin" role. The server must check who is asking and calculate prices itself. Lesson: app security
One more: costs. Paid AI APIs charge per token, and a whole class asking hundreds of questions the night before an exam adds up. Set a spending limit and a billing alert where the service has them. Lesson: money and limits
FAQ
Is vibe coding bad?
Not by itself. It gets a bad name when people ship code they never checked: keys left in the page, databases without access rules, admin checks only in the interface. If you test every feature and keep secrets on the server, it's a fast and legitimate way to build.
Do I need to know how to code to start vibe coding?
No. A browser and a free account in an AI tool are enough for a first project. Understanding what's going on helps you spot where the AI went wrong faster, which is why the course explains Git, hosting and APIs in plain words.
What is the best vibe coding tool for beginners?
For the very first evening, a builder in the browser like Lovable, Bolt, v0 or Replit: it gives you a live page fastest with nothing to install. When the prototype works, move the code to GitHub and continue in an AI editor or with an agent.
Free course on this topicVibe coding: free courseStart the course →