Introduction to Vibe Coding

In February 2025, Andrej Karpathy, co-founder of OpenAI and former AI head at Tesla, jokingly stated on X:

“There’s a new way of coding, I call it vibe coding. You completely rely on your feelings, embrace exponential growth, and forget about the existence of the code itself.”

Nine months later, the term was officially defined on the Collins Dictionary website as:

“The act of using natural language prompts to have artificial intelligence assist in writing computer code.”

This term, originating from a programmer’s joke, has become part of human language. Vibe Coding represents a new programming paradigm based on artificial intelligence, particularly large language models (LLMs). Developers describe their requirements in natural language, and AI generates the corresponding code logic and architecture. This approach allows developers to guide code generation based on intuition and feelings, focusing more on user experience and functional logic. It lowers the barriers to development, enabling non-professional developers to participate in software creation.

Significance of Vibe Coding

Vibe Coding signifies “technological equality”. Programming has transformed from an elite activity into a universal creative endeavor.

On the Replit platform, most users have never written a line of code but have generated various runnable systems with the help of AI. Notably, in the latest batch of startups from Silicon Valley’s Y Combinator (YC), it was revealed that 25% of the codebase in the Winter 2025 batch was 95% generated by AI.

These cases reveal a harsh truth: “In the AI era, developers who cannot communicate with AI are being replaced by those who can ask questions.” This shift allows non-technical product managers, designers, and even entrepreneurs to directly participate in software development. The time from idea to product prototype has been compressed from months to days, as the programming barrier disappears and creativity becomes the only passport.

“Code devaluation” is one of the core concepts of Vibe Coding. In the world of Vibe Coding, code is no longer the core that developers need to write manually; instead, it is generated automatically by AI systems based on the developer’s intent.

However, Vibe Coding is not a simple “magic wand”. As one of the authors of “Vibe Coding: Exploring a New Paradigm of Programming in the AI Era” mentioned in an interview: “The upper limit of AI’s capabilities ultimately depends on the user’s own knowledge boundaries and depth of thought.”

Technical Principles of Vibe Coding

The technical principles are not complex. Vibe Coding relies on large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Claude. These models have been trained on vast amounts of code, enabling them to understand your requirements described in natural language and generate the corresponding code.

The specific process is as follows:

You describe your requirements in natural language.
For example: “I want to create a to-do list application where users can add tasks, mark them as complete, and delete tasks.”
AI understands your requirements.
The large language model analyzes your description and identifies key functionalities: add, mark, delete.
AI generates code.
The model automatically generates frontend interface code, backend logic code, database design, etc.
You test and adjust.
If there are unsatisfactory aspects, you can continue to communicate with AI in natural language: “Change the button color to blue,” and AI will automatically modify the code.

Throughout the process, you hardly need to look at what the code looks like. This aligns with Karpathy’s notion of “forgetting about the existence of code”.

Differences from Traditional Programming

The distinction between Vibe Coding and traditional programming is not merely about “who writes the code”; it represents a fundamental shift in thinking.

Traditional Programming:

You are the “foreman” who needs to personally move bricks, build walls, and paint.
Focus is on “how to do it” (How).
Requires mastery of programming languages, algorithms, and data structures.
Longer development cycles but stronger control.

Vibe Coding:

You are the “client” who only needs to tell AI what kind of house you want.
Focus is on “what to do” (What).
No need to understand programming; just describe your needs.
Faster development speed but weaker control.

This shift theoretically allows more people to participate in software development. You don’t need to spend years learning programming; as long as you can speak, you can have AI help you realize your ideas.

Common Vibe Coding Tools

Essentially, any tool that offers an “immersive experience + AI automatic adjustments + instant previews” qualifies as a Vibe Coding tool. The current immersive programming and results-oriented Vibe Coding approach relies heavily on the collaboration of AI IDEs and tools.

Here are some commonly used tools on the market today:

Cursor
Cursor is undoubtedly the number one IDE for writing code. Its built-in AI assistant can save you a lot of trouble; just tell it your requirements, and Cursor will help you write code, debug, modify logic, and even automatically refactor. You just need to view the results and suggest changes; let AI handle the code details, perfectly fitting the Vibe Coding style of “immersion-feedback-adjustment”.
Trae
Trae.ai is another AI programming IDE, a product of ByteDance, currently free to use. You can write code, check documentation, and add interfaces; interacting with it can significantly boost efficiency.
VSCode + Cline Plugin
By integrating the Cline plugin with VSCode, you can seamlessly collaborate with an AI assistant. You can write code, check APIs, and propose requirements in VSCode, and it will help you generate, complete, and refactor code, as well as connect to Apifox MCP Server with one click to automatically retrieve and utilize API documentation. This transforms development into a process of “VSCode writes - Cline thinks - AI produces results”, creating a super smooth experience.
Apifox MCP Server
When discussing knowledge management and API data in the AI era, the MCP Server is indispensable.
It can take the interface documentation you’ve written (such as your project API specifications, fields, usage instructions, etc.) and feed it to Cursor, Trae, VSCode (with the Cline plugin), or any supported AI tools with one click.

The biggest advantage is that you can write code and manage business without memorizing API interfaces or repeatedly flipping through documentation. Just tell AI: “Generate the Product interface based on the API documentation,” “Add a few new fields in DTO,” or “Write detailed comments for all fields”… AI will handle it automatically, truly achieving a state where professional code, interfaces, and comments are “written as specifications, and modifying one line synchronizes everything”.

With the MCP Server, the “knowledge blind spots” in AI programming are virtually eliminated, efficiency skyrockets, and team collaboration becomes more professional, especially suitable for backend, microservices, team collaboration projects, and various automation and intelligent code generation tasks.

In conclusion, Vibe Coding allows humans to do the most comfortable thing—focus on results, articulate needs, and leave everything else to AI. If you find something unsatisfactory, simply tell AI, “Adjust it immediately, provide feedback immediately,” maximizing immersion and achieving extraordinary efficiency.