Common Vibe coding mistakes one should avoid

Vibe coding is one of those phrases that sounds funny until you realize you have been doing some version of it for years.

You get an idea, open the editor, ask AI for a starting point, move fast, keep changing things, and suddenly the feature exists. No long planning doc. No heavy architecture meeting. Just momentum.

I like that feeling. Some of my best small projects started like this. But I have also created some very annoying bugs this way, especially when I was too focused on shipping the visible part and ignored the boring parts underneath.

So this is not an anti-vibe-coding post. It is more like: vibe coding is powerful, but you still need to stay awake while doing it.

What vibe coding really means

To me, vibe coding means building through fast feedback.

You are not carefully designing every class before touching code. You are exploring. You try something, see it on screen, adjust, ask AI for help, delete half of it, then keep going.

That is useful when:

• You are prototyping an idea
• You are building a landing page
• You need a quick internal tool
• You are testing a product direction
• You are blocked and need a rough first draft

The danger starts when the prototype quietly becomes production and nobody cleans it up.

Mistake 1: trusting code you do not understand

This is the biggest one.

AI can generate code that looks very confident. Sometimes it is correct. Sometimes it is almost correct, which is worse because it passes a quick glance.

I have copied a snippet before, watched it work in the happy path, and only later noticed it handled errors badly. The UI looked fine, but the state logic was strange. Another time, a helper function worked for normal input but broke when the value was empty. Small stuff, but small stuff becomes production pain.

Before merging AI-generated code, ask yourself:

• Can I explain what this does line by line?
• Do I know what happens when the input is empty?
• Do I know what happens when the request fails?
• Is this using the same pattern as the rest of the codebase?

If the answer is no, slow down.

Mistake 2: ignoring types to keep moving

Using any feels harmless when you just want the thing to work. I get it. You are in the flow, TypeScript is complaining, and you do not want to stop.

But most of the time TypeScript is not being annoying for no reason. It is telling you where your mental model is incomplete.

The compromise I use now is simple: during the messy prototype stage, I may leave rough types for a little while. Before the feature is done, I clean them. Not "someday". Before done.

Good types are especially important around:

• API responses
• Form data
• Payment logic
• Auth/session data
• User permissions
• Reusable component props

If these are loose, bugs become harder to see.

Mistake 3: only building the happy path

The happy path is seductive because it makes the demo look good.

The user enters perfect input, the network is fast, the API returns exactly what you expect, and the page updates nicely.

Real users do not behave like that.

They refresh at weird times. They paste broken values. Their internet drops. They double-click submit. They open the same page in two tabs. They have old data. They leave forms half filled.

When I vibe code, I now force myself to add the basic states before calling it done:

• Loading
• Empty
• Error
• Disabled
• Success
• Permission denied, if relevant

These states do not need to be fancy. They just need to exist.

Mistake 4: making one huge component

Fast coding often turns into one giant component with state, fetching, transforms, rendering, modals, and handlers all mixed together.

It works until you need to change it.

Then every small edit feels risky because everything is touching everything else.

My rule is to split only when there is a real boundary. I do not create abstractions just to feel clean. But if a section has its own state or repeats, it probably deserves a component. If a data transform is longer than a few lines, it probably deserves a function.

Good vibe coding still leaves the code readable.

Mistake 5: forgetting the existing system

This happens a lot with AI-assisted work.

You ask for a component and it gives you a new button style, a different modal pattern, different spacing, and a totally new way of naming props. The result may look fine alone, but it feels wrong inside the actual app.

Before accepting generated code, compare it with the repo:

• How are similar components built?
• What UI primitives are already used?
• What naming style does the project follow?
• Where do hooks and helpers usually live?
• How are errors shown elsewhere?

Consistency is not boring. It saves time later.

Mistake 6: skipping small tests for critical logic

I do not think every prototype needs a huge test suite. But some logic deserves tests even if you are moving fast.

If the code touches money, auth, permissions, slugs, dates, email sending, or data deletion, write a small test.

Even one test for the main transformation can save you from a dumb regression.

The mistake is thinking tests always slow you down. For unstable logic, tests make vibe coding faster because you can change things without guessing.

Mistake 7: not deleting the bad first draft

Sometimes the first version is only useful because it teaches you what the real version should be.

Do not get attached to it.

I have had features where the first draft got the UI right but the data model wrong. Keeping it would have made every future change painful. Rewriting the core after understanding the problem was faster than patching the messy version for hours.

This is the part people forget: vibe coding is not only about generating code quickly. It is also about deleting quickly.

A better workflow

Here is the workflow that works for me:

1. Build the rough version quickly.
2. Use it in the browser like a real user.
3. List the edge cases.
4. Clean the types.
5. Split obvious boundaries.
6. Match the existing project patterns.
7. Add small tests for risky logic.
8. Remove dead code and unused helpers.

This still feels fast, but it does not leave a mess behind.

Conclusion

Vibe coding is not the enemy. Blind coding is.

Use AI, move fast, explore ideas, and enjoy the momentum. Just do not outsource your judgement. Read the code, understand the failure cases, and clean the draft before it becomes something other people depend on.

The best version of vibe coding is not "ship anything". It is "find the shape fast, then make it solid enough to live with."