My LLM codegen workflow atm
The most-copied spec-first workflow, with the exact prompts.
Open harper.blog →
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How do I plan and prompt so the AI builds what I actually want?
The short answer
The single biggest upgrade is to stop prompting features and start with a spec: brainstorm the idea into a written plan (a mini PRD), break it into small steps, then feed the AI one step at a time. Harper Reed's spec-then-plan-then-execute loop and Lovable's Prompting Bible are the two canonical playbooks. Small, specific, one-thing-at-a-time prompts with real context beat long wishlists every time, and they burn far fewer credits.
A quick orientation. The real value is below: resources worth your time, from people who've actually done it.
18 resources worth your time
An LLM codegen hero's journey
How the workflow evolved after months of real use.
Open harper.blog →Simon Willison on Harper Reed's workflow
A trusted second opinion on why the approach works.
Open simonwillison.net →The Lovable Prompting Bible
The official handbook: four levels of prompting, from training wheels to meta.
Open lovable.dev →Prompting best practices (Lovable docs)
The concise, always-current version of the Bible.
Open docs.lovable.dev →Vibe coding: best practices for prompting
Backend-aware prompting patterns from the database everyone uses.
Open supabase.com →Best practices for Claude Code
Plan mode, context hygiene, and step-sizing from the tool's makers.
Open code.claude.com →How Claude Code is used in practice
Data on what workflows actually succeed across thousands of users.
Open anthropic.com →GitHub Spec Kit
An open-source scaffold that forces spec, plan, tasks, then code.
Open github.com →Spec-driven development with AI: get started with a new open source toolkit
Why GitHub built the antidote to piecemeal prompting.
Open github.blog →Diving into spec-driven development with GitHub Spec Kit
A hands-on walkthrough of the spec-first loop.
Open developer.microsoft.com →EnzeD/vibe-coding: the vibe coding kickstart guide
A living, battle-tested prompt methodology with real example projects.
Open github.com →From prompt to prototype: get the most out of Lovable
A designer's method: describe design intent in steps, not specs.
Open medium.com →The non-technical PM's guide to building with Cursor
How a non-engineer at Meta structures work so Cursor delivers.
Open lennysnewsletter.com →How to use Claude Code like the people who built it
The founding engineers' own prompting and planning habits.
Open every.to →How two engineers ship like a team of 15 with AI agents
A real company's compounding-engineering workflow, shown live.
Open every.to →Prompting hacks for vibe coding in Lovable
Small phrasing changes that visibly change output quality.
Open prettypromptai.substack.com →LLM development workflow example
Sees Harper's workflow applied to a concrete project end to end.
Open zacharynielsen.com →More in Vibe Coding
- Why can non-technical founders now build software with AI? 18 →
- What tools should I start with (Cursor, Claude Code, Lovable, Replit, Bolt, v0)? 19 →
- How do real founders ship an MVP with AI in days instead of months? 18 →
- What are the limits, when do I still need a real engineer? 20 →
- What actually counts as vibe coding, and how is it different from serious AI-assisted engineering? 18 →
- How do I keep my vibe-coded app from getting hacked? 19 →
- How do I get my vibe-coded prototype ready for real users? 18 →
- How do I add accounts, a database, and payments to my vibe-coded app? 18 →
- What do I do when the AI gets stuck, loops, or breaks things it already built? 18 →
- How much does vibe coding really cost, and how do I stop burning credits? 18 →
- Do I still need to learn to code, or is prompting enough? 17 →
- Can vibe-coded products become real businesses? 19 →
- Can I vibe code a mobile app and get it into the App Store? 18 →
- How do I avoid losing work? Version control for founders who don't code 19 →
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