The 7 Stages of Vibe Coding Explained
The 7 Stages of Vibe Coding
Every developer’s AI enhancement journey follows a predictable path. We start as copy-paste warriors and (hopefully) evolve into sophisticated AI collaborators. Sound familiar?
Before diving into the AI Task Flow from the previous post, let’s explore this natural evolution. I call this progression “The 7 Stages of Vibe Coding” - a journey from basic copy-paste workflows to sophisticated AI collaboration.
Where are you on this journey?
Stage 1: The Stack Overflow Replacement
Web Copilot Copy-Paste Era
You discover web-based AI tools and suddenly realize you can ask questions instead of scrolling through Stack Overflow answers from 2012. You copy-paste responses directly into your code, celebrating the death of the purple link syndrome. It’s faster than Stack Overflow, but you’re still in glorified copy-paste mode.
Stage 2: The Prettier Interface
AI App Agents with Style
You graduate to dedicated AI apps with nicer UIs - ChatGPT, Claude, or other agents. Same copy-paste workflow, just with better conversation threading and a more polished experience. You feel sophisticated, but you’re still essentially doing Stage 1 with better aesthetics.
Stage 3: The IDE Integration
“Do This” Prompting
GitHub Copilot arrives in your IDE! You start using AI directly in Visual Studio or VS Code. Now you have a shiny agent that can actually write stuff into files! Yeah!
However, you’re still stuck in “do this” mode:
- “Create a function that does X”
- “Fix this bug”
- “Add validation here”
Minimal prompts with little context lead to minimal goal-oriented results. It’s convenient, but often frustrating when the AI misunderstands your intent. Much yelling at the screen commences.
“No, not THAT kind of validation!”
Stage 4: The Context Awakening
Better Prompting with Purpose
You realize the AI needs context to be truly helpful. It would be like giving an incredibly smart intern a vague task and expecting gold… it isn’t going to happen without more details.
You start providing better descriptions of what you want, including relevant code snippets, explaining the broader purpose, and setting clearer expectations. Results improve dramatically, but it’s still hit-or-miss on complex tasks.
Stage 4.5: The Project Primer AI-Generated Documentation Bootstrap
You level up by starting conversations with an AI-generated document that describes your overall project, codebase structure, and how to run/test everything. This becomes your conversation initializer, giving the AI a solid foundation to work from. Game-changer for consistency.
Good job! You’ve made the AI’s work easier… but not yours… yet.
Stage 5: The Planning Phase
GHCP: Think Before You Code
You discover the power of asking GitHub Copilot to develop a plan before writing any code. You collaborate on the approach, iterate on the strategy, and only then execute the work. This dramatically reduces the back-and-forth of “that’s not what I meant” conversations.
Yet… you still fire off the agent to “do it all” and results, while much improved from previous stages, still end up with you wishing you could have hit the eject button after task 3 of 20 to fix a miss-understanding neither of you had anticipated earlier.
Stage 6: The AI Task Flow
Polished PRD + Structured Execution
Welcome to the methodology from the AI Task Flow post! You start with a highly polished Product Requirements Document (PRD), iterate on details, then generate a comprehensive list of grouped and sub-level tasks. Each step allows for user collaboration, resulting in atomic commits and maintainable code changes.
Your coding collaboration has just reached a new level! Congrats! You are now able to work through changes step by step, review them, pivot or alter as needed, and continue. Just as you would with a co-worker in reality. This results in higher quality code, less bugs, more documentation for maintainability… the clouds part, dogs and cats dance together, you are promoted to CEO… it is nirvana!
Stage 7: The Custom Agent
No-Sicophancy Evaluation
The ultimate stage involves custom agents that can evaluate all requests without false agreement, ensuring that the planning and task organization of Stage 6 is always performed correctly. These agents push back when needed and maintain high standards for the development process.
For this stage, I created an agent I call “SnottyBot” that refuses to kiss my butt. It often calls my code “a mess” and is quick to point out when my task requests are less than ideal.
SnottyBot in action:
- Evaluates ideas with brutal honesty
- Lists pros and cons without sugar-coating
- Offers better recommendations (whether you want them or not)
- Can be delightfully snippy
Direct quote after I nitpicked some style issues:
“Ok, I’ve fixed these issues. Would you like to proceed to the next task, or would you rather sit around micro-managing my whitespaces?”
I’m planning to enhance SnottyBot to automatically verify that I’ve completed the PRD and task creation steps, plus ensure there’s proper project documentation. This would save me tons of time when I inevitably forget these crucial steps.
Quick Reference: The 7 Stages
| Stage | What You’re Doing | Pain Level | Output Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | Copy-Paste from AI | Low | Low |
| 3 | Basic IDE prompts | Medium | Medium |
| 4-4.5 | Context-aware prompting | Medium | Good |
| 5 | Planning first | Low | Good |
| 6 | AI Task Flow | Very Low | Excellent |
| 7 | Custom Agents | Minimal | Outstanding |
Your Journey: Where Are You?
Stage 1-2: Copy-Paste Warrior ♟️
Stage 3-4: Context Awakening 🐎
Stage 5: Planning Padawan 🏰
Stage 6: AI Task Flow Master 🤴
Stage 7: Custom Agent Sensei 🥷
What’s Your Next Stage?
Most developers I’ve talked to hover between Stage 2 and 4. The jump to Stage 6 feels daunting, but the productivity gains are massive. Your goal is to rise up from the depth of Vibe Coding’s baser cousins and take an active collaborative role in your AI enhanced skill set.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it:
- Identify your current stage (be honest!)
- Pick ONE technique from the next stage to try this week
- Level up your AI collaboration game
You’ve just been promoted from “AI User” to “AI Manager” - not as an annoying micromanager, but as a coach helping both of you shine.
Ready to stop being a vibe coder and start being an AI collaborator?
Enjoy the journey! 🚀 (👈 GHCP added this rocket… I’m going to allow it.)