In early 2025, DeepLearning.AI and Replit introduced a foundational course on Vibe Coding, highlighting how this emerging paradigm is transforming software creation.
Trickle users may recognize many of these principles in their own workflows—whether crafting landing pages, automating workflows, or spinning up interactive demos. This blog reflects on the core lessons from the course and explores how you can apply them in Trickle to build better, faster, and more creatively with AI.
What Is Vibe Coding?
Vibe coding refers to using natural language prompts to guide an AI assistant in building functional software. Rather than manually coding every element, developers describe what they want in plain English (or any supported language), and the AI translates those ideas into working code.
Andrej Karpathy and the Replit team have described vibe coding as a new programming interface—one that collapses the distance between thought and execution. With tools like Trickle, you can describe an app idea, tweak it through conversation, and deploy it—all within minutes.
Three Principles to Guide Your Vibe Coding Workflow
1. Be Precise
- Give one task at a time: Large requests can overwhelm most agents. Instead of saying “Build a blog site with login, search, and analytics,” start with: “Create a simple homepage with a blog layout.”
- Break down tasks: If you want to build a multi-step form, begin with step one. Add complexity only after verifying functionality.
- Be specific and detailed: Instead of “make it look cool,” try “add a neon hover effect to the call-to-action button.”
2. Be Well-Organized
- Build step by step: Add new features incrementally. Test before layering more.
- Use rollback wisely: When something breaks, revert to the last working version. Trickle’s autosave and version history help here.
- Start fresh for new ideas: When testing a different feature or design, begin a new thread or conversation to keep context clean.
3. Be Patient
- Understand what the AI is doing: Don’t rush through outputs—read and interpret them.
- Ask why: If the AI writes code, ask for the reasoning. This helps you build intuition.
- Be thorough with debugging: AI might miss subtle logic errors. Take time to test and refine.
Five Essential Vibe Coding Skills (Expanded)
These five skills will make you significantly better at using tools like Trickle or Replit Agent:
1. Thinking
- Logical thinking: Define the core purpose of your app. For example, “What is the core user interaction in this to-do app?”
- Analytical thinking: Break down behaviors. “How does the user move through the checkout flow?”
- Computational thinking: Recognize patterns and abstractions. “What happens every time a form is submitted?”
- Procedural thinking: Translate steps into logic. “What are the exact rules the game logic must follow?”
2. Frameworks
- Learn what tools are available. For instance, Trickle builds apps with Tailwind CSS and React under the hood.
- Ask the AI what frameworks fit best with your goal. If unsure, prompt with: “Should I use React or Vue for this?”
- Understand what frameworks handle state, routing, or animations.
- Use AI to scaffold your app with the right libraries from the start.
3. Checkpoints
- Always save progress. Trickle versions each saved state of your project.
- Use version control (or Trickle's snapshotting) to test risky changes safely.
- Move in short sprints. Don’t wait until everything is done to test.
- Return to working versions when stuck. “Checkpoint and iterate” is key.
4. Debugging
- Debugging isn’t glamorous—but it's powerful. Treat it like detective work.
- Use AI to isolate variables or log outputs.
- Ask: “What’s not working and why?” Then rephrase it to the AI.
- Explain the issue clearly. E.g., “The button doesn’t submit when clicked on Safari but works on Chrome.”
5. Context Management
- Remember, LLMs work within a limited context window.
- Help the agent with relevant context: upload your error messages, describe your environment, or remind it of prior steps.
- Share screenshots, data, or configurations—Trickle’s prompt interface allows you to add rich inputs.
- When in doubt, restate the app’s purpose. Re-aligning goals helps LLMs refocus.
Final Thoughts
AI-assisted coding is more than just writing prompts—it’s a skillset. The best vibe coders aren’t those who know the most code, but those who collaborate best with AI.
If you’re building with Trickle, these Replit-based tips offer real-time value. Treat each project like a conversation, build in loops, and keep your process clear and contextual.
You’ll not only move faster—you’ll enjoy it more too.
Ready to try it? Log into Trickle and turn your next app idea into a working prototype using vibe coding.
