Not all AI-assisted programming is vibe coding (but vibe coding rocks)
The definitive definition piece everyone else quotes.
Open simonwillison.net →
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What actually counts as vibe coding, and how is it different from serious AI-assisted engineering?
Karpathy's original meaning was specific: let the AI write everything and do not even read the code. Simon Willison drew the now-standard line: if you review, test, and can explain the code, that is just software development with AI assistance, not vibe coding. Most founders should treat it as a spectrum, pure vibes for throwaway prototypes and progressively more review as real users and money show up.
Go deeper
18 resources.
Vibe coding and agentic engineering are getting closer than I'd like
How the line has blurred a year on, from the person who drew it.
Open simonw.substack.com →Vibe coding (Wikipedia)
The neutral, constantly updated record of the term and its debates.
Open en.wikipedia.org →Collins Word of the Year 2025: AI meets authenticity
The lexicographers' own definition and why usage exploded.
Open blog.collinsdictionary.com →Vibe Coding: Building Production-Grade Software With GenAI (book)
Two industry legends turn the vibe into a repeatable discipline.
Open itrevolution.com →Beyond Vibe Coding: a guide to AI-assisted development
The book that formalises the vibe-to-engineering spectrum.
Open beyond.addy.ie →Beyond Vibe Coding with Addy Osmani (podcast)
The book's core ideas in one conversation.
Open newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com →YC on Karpathy's coinage and what it means
How the startup establishment absorbed the term within a month.
Open x.com →Hacker News debates Ng's 'bad name for a real job'
The practitioner argument over what the word should mean.
Open news.ycombinator.com →Vibe Coding, Explained
A creator-economy lens on why non-coders adopted the term.
Open news.thepublishpress.com →Vibe Coding: toward an AI-native paradigm for intent-driven programming
The academic treatment if you want the rigorous version.
Open arxiv.org →Vibe coding glossary: key terms every beginner should know
Decode tokens, context windows, and RLS before your first session.
Open siteground.com →Vibe coding glossary: every term you need to know
A builder-platform's plain-English dictionary of the jargon.
Open blink.new →Vibe coding vocabulary: every term you need
The terms you will meet in your first month, explained simply.
Open blog.vibecoder.me →What is vibe coding? The non-technical founder's guide
Definition plus decision framework aimed squarely at founders.
Open sonary.com →Software is changing (again): key takeaways from Karpathy's talk
The Software 3.0 framing digested into ten minutes of reading.
Open dulandias.com →Andrej Karpathy on Software 3.0
The AI-engineering community's annotated read of the keynote.
Open latent.space →Karpathy: 'LLMs are a new kind of computer you program in English'
The chaptered summary of his own talk, straight from the source.
Open x.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 →
- How do I plan and prompt so the AI builds what I actually want? 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 →
Also in Starting Up
The same ground, over in Build the product, our Starting Up track.
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