Vibe development
Vibe coding builds the demo. Vibe development builds the system.
AI can now write most of the code. The skill that matters has moved up a level: knowing what to build, how it should be structured, and how to prove it works. That is vibe development.
Vibe coding is describing an app to an AI builder and accepting what comes back. Platforms like Lovable, Bolt, v0 and Replit are very good at it. You get a working front end, a managed database and hosting in minutes, inside the platform’s sandbox and on its defaults. For prototypes, landing pages and testing an idea, that is exactly the right tool.
Vibe development is what happens when the thing has to be real. It uses the same AI speed, but it is led by architecture rather than by a prompt: designing the data model and the SQL, choosing and wiring the infrastructure, building the backend services, queues and integrations, and running coding agents as a team whose work is reviewed, tested and deployed properly. The AI writes the code; the developer owns the system.
Side by side
CodingA prompt in a hosted builder such as Lovable, Bolt, v0 or Replit
DevAn architecture: services, data model, environments and boundaries, designed first
CodingThe platform’s sandbox and hosting, on its defaults
DevYour own infrastructure: cloud accounts, containers, edge workers, CI/CD
CodingA managed database wired up for you, schema mostly implied
DevSQL designed on purpose: schemas, indexes, migrations, constraints, row-level security
CodingGenerated CRUD and a few API routes
DevAuth, queues, jobs, caching, integrations and APIs that other systems depend on
CodingWrites the app for you
DevA team of agents you direct, review and test, like a lead engineer would
CodingIt works in the preview
DevIt is observable, secure, backed up and still fine at 100× the traffic
CodingPrototypes, landing pages, internal tools, validating an idea fast
DevProducts, platforms and systems that have to survive real users
How I vibe-develop
Architecture first
Before any agent writes code: services, data flows, boundaries, environments and failure modes are decided and written down. The agents build to the plan, not the other way round.
Data is designed, not implied
Relational schemas, indexes, constraints, migrations and row-level security, reviewed like any senior engineer would. SQL is where most AI-built apps quietly break.
Real infrastructure
Cloud accounts, containers, edge workers, queues, secrets and CI/CD that I own, rather than a builder’s hosting and defaults.
Agents as a team
Several coding agents (Claude Code, Codex and others) working in parallel on scoped tasks, orchestrated and reviewed. AI does the typing; I own the decisions.
Verified, not vibed
Tests, type checks, evals, logs and staged deploys. If it is not observable and reversible, it is not done.
Built to keep
Auth, billing, backups, rate limits and cost controls from day one, so the prototype can become the product without a rewrite.
Essays on vibe development
Senior vibe developer
From cassette-tape games to AI agents: I have been building software long enough to know what has to be true underneath the vibes.
About Efe