---
title: "Vibe coding does not start with the code"
description: "Anyone building an app or tool with AI gets stuck by starting to build immediately. Why the discovery phase and a few early choices save you days of work later."
language: en
source: https://coachsteff.live/en/ontdekfase-vibe-coding
---

# Vibe coding does not start with the code

Vibe coding is really just talking to your computer, and it builds it. That is how I explain it to participants who have never heard the term before. You describe what you want in plain language, and an AI agent writes the code. A tool, a website, a small app. What used to require a team, one person can do today.

But anyone starting for the first time almost always runs into the same thing. After a promising start, things go wrong somewhere, and the AI seems unable to change direction anymore.

## A language model finds it hard to deviate from its path

There is a reason for that. Language models find it very difficult to deviate from a path they have already taken. If you start building without knowing clearly what you want, the AI chooses a direction itself. Every subsequent step builds on that. And when you notice halfway through that it actually needed to be different, you are stuck in a structure that you cannot easily bend anymore.

Often, starting over is faster than adjusting. That is frustrating, and it is avoidable.