Have you ever had a brilliant idea for an app or tool that could simplify your life?
Maybe it’s:
a landing page for your ideas
a mobile app to track your unique daily habits or lifestyle
a system to automate your newsletter publishing workflow from sourcing ideas to writing with AI
an in-office tool to streamline mundane daily tasks for you and your team
or that one big idea you’ve always had, the one you’re certain could become a million-dollar company if not a billion
But you felt stuck because you didn’t know how to code.
Now, AI—the great equalizing technology—is making everyone a programmer.
No frustration.
No gatekeeping.
You can describe what you want and build any software product — personal “software for one,” workflow automations, or even digital tools that help you productize yourself.
You no longer need to learn coding to build software.
That’s where Vibe Coding changes everything.
Instead of spending months learning to code—or thousands hiring a dev team—Vibe Coding allows you to build software by describing what you want.
Think of it as a creative partnership with AI: you provide the vision, and the AI writes and refines the code.
Vibe Coding is a programming paradigm where you let AI-infused coding tools and CodeGen platforms build software solutions based on your ideas. Instead of writing code line by line, you describe what you want — in natural language — and guide the AI through iterative prompting. You co-create by expressing intent, observing output, and refining the result with minimal manual intervention. It’s not about controlling every line of code — it’s about shaping the outcome through conversational design.
Instead of spending months learning syntax or thousands hiring a dev team, you describe what you want, and AI scaffolds it with you.
Think of it as a creative partnership.
You provide the vision, and the AI writes and refines the code.
But maybe you’ve already experimented.
You tried one of the new CodeGen platforms or AI-assisted coding tools, typed in a prompt, watched something resembling a website or an app appear, and then spent hours fighting with error loops, half-working features, and not-fully-wired backends.
If that’s you, you’ve seen the truth: speed without structure collapses.
And it’s not just you.
Every week, a new “AI coding platform” claims to be the only tool you’ll ever need. I’ve tried them all — from Lovable, v0, Replit and Bolt to the recent ones, Kiro and Warp — each asserting it will change everything.
But here’s the truth: tools change.
Mental models endure.
No vertical integration can eliminate the need for a mental model.
That’s why this Substack exists.
Not to hype the flavor of the month, but to teach the builder’s literacy that can empower anyone to think like a traditionally trained developer, so they can scaffold any type of web-based solution or app like an engineer would.
If you can’t name the parts of a website or an app, your prompts take longer to execute, burning through your credits.
If you can’t think in terms of scaffolds, your prototypes end up being half-wired.
If you can’t frame intent, your AI will choose the probabilistic scenario it finds closest to what it thinks you mean.
Vibe Coding is about describing software clearly enough that AI can build it with you, then guiding it with structure, not guesswork.
Your agency intact.
The mental model you need when starting to build with AI — whether you call it Vibe Coding or something else — begins with mastering the fundamentals.
Speak Dev by learning the vocabulary of modern software development, not programming syntax.
Think in scaffolds, understanding how interfaces, logic, services, authentication, payments, data integrate to form complete software systems.
Carry durable mental models across platforms; this is where the five-layered Progressive Scaffolding Framework (PSF) becomes essential.
Treat your initial scaffolding prompt as your new PRDs or spec-driven development documents, but in a much simpler form; this is where the One Prompt Template comes in handy.
This is how newcomers avoid the trap of a shiny demo today and a broken app tomorrow.
Why This Matters to You
You don’t need to be a developer to solve real problems with software.
You need:
A clear idea
A willingness to refine
AI tools that turn language into logic
For years, tech was locked behind skill walls and expensive teams.
Vibe Coding breaks those down.
If you’ve ever thought, “I wish I could build this myself…”
This is your moment.
Inspired by Andrej Karpathy, Vibe Coding shifts the focus from syntax to creativity, turning software creation into something playful, expressive, and accessible.
If you’re curious about how the journey unfolded — from mapping the shifting AI landscape to framing the mental models non-techies need — I’ve curated all the articles I have written on the subject so far into a single archive: The Vibe Coding Canon for Non-Techie Builders.
It’s designed so new readers don’t get lost in the hype, but can follow the path month by month.
🧰What You Get — Free and Paid
Whether you're just starting or ready to go deeper, here’s what’s inside:
✅ Free Resources to Start Building
The Vibe Coding Starter Kit (Free Edition)
1,450+ modern web vocab terms to help you speak software fluently—even if you’ve never coded a day in your life.
The Vibe Coding Prompt Kit (Free Edition)
The One Prompt framework + 1,300+ reusable Vibe Stacks for real features, fast scaffolds, and beginner-friendly flow logic.
Weekly Insights & Posts
Stay current with tips, trends, and tools to help you build smarter with AI—delivered straight to your inbox.
The age of software built by language is here. This is your creative compass.
💎 Paid Subscribers Unlock the Full Toolkit
The Vibe Coding Starter Kit (Full Edition)
1,450+ vocab terms, 1,500+ composable prompts, mindset frameworks, and your full creative OS for prompt-first thinking.
The Vibe Coding Prompt Kit (Full Edition)
The complete One Prompt + 1,950 Vibe Stack units, real-world prompt recipes, and the Progressive Scaffolding Framework to take you from UI to full app.
Premium How-To Guides + Monthly Deep Dives
Step-by-step walkthroughs, monetization blueprints, and rich learning drops to help you go from prototype to product.Early Access to the Upcoming Book
Get early chapters and exclusive resources from Vibe Coding with AI — a full system for building in the new era.
💡 For Vibe Coding Aficionados
If you’re ready to go beyond reading and want to actually build, the Aficionado tier is for you.
I’ll personally help you design, scaffold, and launch a working landing page — complete with authentication, mailing list integration, and payment setup.
You’ll only cover the AI credits the platform consumes. No extra monthly subscription.It’s hands-on, guided Vibe Coding.
You bring the idea. We’ll ship it together.
You’re not just learning—you’re creating.
This is your builder’s playground.
Let’s start Vibe Coding beyond just vibes.
🚀 Ready to bring your ideas to life?
Join the Vibe Coding movement:
Speak Dev → Think in Scaffolds → Choose the Right Tooling → Start Vibe Coding.
👇 Subscribe now. Your ideas deserve to come alive.