Vibe Coding Prompts

How To

How to get started with Vibe Coding

Vibe coding works best when you treat AI as a fast engineering partner, not an autopilot. This guide gives you a practical setup, repeatable workflow, and quality guardrails.

1. Set up your environment

  • Use VS Code as your default editor with linting, formatting, and test extensions enabled.
  • Connect one inline assistant (like GitHub Copilot) and one deeper reasoning assistant (like GPT-Codex or Claude Code).
  • Create project scripts so you can run checks quickly: tests, lint, type-check, build.
  • Keep terminal + test output visible while prompting to shorten feedback loops.

2. Define the task before prompting

  • State the goal in one sentence: what should work after the change.
  • List hard constraints: APIs that must not change, performance limits, security requirements.
  • Add acceptance criteria: exact tests or behaviors that prove success.
  • Include style constraints: naming, architecture conventions, error handling pattern.

3. Use a structured prompt format

Use this baseline and adapt per task:

Role: Senior [stack] engineer
Goal: [specific deliverable]
Context: [relevant files/modules]
Constraints:
- Keep existing API unchanged
- Add/adjust tests
- Explain tradeoffs
Return:
1) patch-style code
2) test plan
3) assumptions

4. Run the iteration loop

  1. Generate first draft.
  2. Review logic, edge cases, and maintainability.
  3. Run tests and lint immediately.
  4. Feed failures back with exact error output.
  5. Repeat until all acceptance criteria pass.

5. Cross-check with a second model

  • Ask another model to perform an adversarial review.
  • Prompt for risks: regressions, security holes, missing tests, silent data issues.
  • Request file/line-specific findings so review comments are actionable.
  • Apply only validated fixes; rerun checks after each patch.

6. Keep human ownership

  • Never merge code you do not understand.
  • Treat generated code as a draft until tested.
  • Prefer small commits with clear summaries and sign-off.
  • Document successful prompts in a team prompt library.

Starter checklist

Technical

  • Lint, tests, and type-check scripts available.
  • Pre-commit checks configured.
  • Rollback strategy ready for risky changes.

Prompt quality

  • Goal and constraints written clearly.
  • Expected output format defined.
  • Edge cases explicitly included.

Review quality

  • Code reviewed by human before merge.
  • All checks green in CI/local.
  • Prompt and lessons captured for reuse.