I Built a Whole App by Vibe Coding with AI — And It Changed How I Think About Software
I haven’t written a blogpost in a while. Or built something just for fun in… longer than I’d like to admit.
But recently, I shipped a whole app — not with a roadmap, or a spec doc, or a sleepless weekend of React wiring. I just vibe coded it. With AI. And it worked.
Let me explain.
1. What Is Vibe Coding?
Vibe coding isn’t a framework. It’s not some new agile flavor. It’s more like… jamming.
You show up with an idea and let the model fill in the blanks. You sketch the “what,” and the AI figures out the “how.” You’re not wrestling with syntax or structure. You’re keeping the energy flowing.
It’s a little chaotic. A little magical. You prompt, tweak, rerun, adjust — and before you know it, you’ve got something running locally.
In the early days, I thought AI pair programming would be like having a helpful junior dev. Now it feels more like having an unreasonably productive partner who never sleeps and is oddly good at YAML.
2. I Vibe Coded a small Shopify App
I’ve been exploring ways to make AI workflows feel natural for indie builders — no tooling drama, no AI wrappers on top of wrappers. Just real output.
So I forked ai-dev-tasks which was recommended to me via this YouTube video — thanks LT if you’re reading this — and started using it to build a Shopify app.
No long planning. No ticket grooming. Just iterative thinking with the AI.
I’d describe the vibe like this:
- Start with a high-level goal (e.g., “build a Shopify app that handles wildcard redirects”).
- Feed the LLM some initial context and constraints. Ask it to ask clarifying questions.
- Let it generate everything from folder structure to infrastructure.
- Fix where it breaks. Prompt again. Repeat.
It wasn’t perfect. But it was fast. And most importantly, it got me shipping again. That was the hardest part. I don’t have boatloads of time in my life anymore — an hour of free time here and there. AI makes those hours count.
I’m now looking at tools like Task Master — which push this thinking further by chaining prompts into buildable task graphs. There’s a growing ecosystem here.
3. This Isn’t Just Faster — It’s Different
What surprised me most wasn’t the speed — it was the shape of the work.
When vibe coding, I’m not thinking about best practices or writing exhaustive specs. I’m having a conversation about what I want and then steering the AI toward something usable.
It’s not passive. You still need good judgment. Product sense.
But it feels like using the AI to prototype your thoughts, not just generate code.
That’s a big deal. In a few years, I think early-stage builders — and even technical PMs — will regularly vibe-code their way to working MVPs before anyone says “let’s open JIRA.”
The Future Is Vibey
I’m creating again — and AI is making it fun. I’m a big fan.
This way of building won’t replace great engineering. But it’s opening doors for speed, experimentation, and creative flow that I haven’t felt in years.
Vibe coding isn’t the answer to everything. But if you’ve been stuck, burned out, or overthinking your next idea… try jamming with a model.
You might ship something cool. You might even write a blogpost about it.
If this resonated, I’ll be sharing more hands-on explorations, tools I’m testing, and the occasional build log. Subscribe to my Medium (or my Substack) to follow along.
