What is Vibe Coding? The New Way to Build Software in 2026
Vibe coding is the practice of describing what you want software to do in plain English, and letting AI build it. Here is what it is, how it works, and real examples.
In early 2025, Andrej Karpathy — one of the most respected engineers in AI — posted about a new way he was building software. He called it "vibe coding". Within months, it had become one of the most discussed concepts in the tech world. Here is what it actually means.
The Original Definition
Karpathy described vibe coding as: "fully giving in to the vibes, embracing exponentials, and forgetting that the code even exists." More practically, it means describing what you want your software to do in plain English, and letting AI write all the code.
You do not read the code. You do not learn the code. You describe the outcome, the AI produces the implementation, you test whether it works, and you iterate. The "vibes" part refers to the conversational, intuition-driven way of working with AI — as opposed to the traditional engineering discipline of understanding every line.
How It Actually Works in Practice
A vibe coding session looks something like this:
Total time: 45 minutes. Working product. No code knowledge required.
What Vibe Coding Is Good For
Tools you and your team use that don't need to scale to millions of users. Booking forms, dashboards, calculators.
Get from idea to testable product in hours rather than weeks. Show investors and customers something real, fast.
Automate something specific to your workflow that no off-the-shelf tool does quite right.
A quote generator, a client portal, a staff rota tool — the kind of thing traditionally requiring a developer costing £500/day.
The Real Skill: Clear Thinking
Vibe coding sounds like it removes the need for skill. It doesn't — it changes the skill required. Instead of writing code, the bottleneck is now:
- →Describing what you want precisely enough that AI can implement it correctly
- →Knowing when the output is wrong vs. when your description was ambiguous
- →Breaking complex ideas into pieces that AI can tackle one at a time
- →Understanding enough about technology to know what is possible
These are product thinking skills, not engineering skills. Which means people who were previously locked out of building software — because they couldn't code — now have a real path in.
The Tools That Make It Work
Best AI for clear, detailed code generation. Strong at following complex specifications.
A code editor with AI built-in. Lets you vibe code directly into files, not just in a chat window.
Type a description, get a working app with a live URL. No setup, no local environment.
Browser-based coding environment. Paste in AI-generated code, run it immediately, share the URL.
Point-and-click app builder backed by AI. Designed specifically for non-technical founders.
$ tools --recommended
Start with the right tools
The AI used in the Build With Claude workshop. Best for building and code generation.
OpenAI's flagship. Strong for research, image generation, and browsing.
AI built into your workspace. Useful for specs, planning, and docs.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who invented the term 'vibe coding'?+
Is vibe coding real or just hype?+
What are the limits of vibe coding?+
Do I need any technical skills to vibe code?+
What tools are used for vibe coding?+
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