In short
Vibe coding is a way of building software where you describe what you want in plain natural language and let an AI coding tool write the code, so you steer by the result rather than by reading and writing every line yourself. The term was coined by Andrej Karpathy in February 2025, who described it as "I just see stuff, say stuff, run stuff, and copy-paste stuff, and it mostly works", and it was named Collins Dictionary Word of the Year for 2025. In short, vibe coding means you give the vibe and the goal, the AI produces the implementation, and you check whether it does what you wanted.
How vibe coding works
You prompt an AI tool in everyday language ("add a dark mode toggle", "fix this error"), it generates or edits the code, you run it, and you keep going by describing the next change. You lean on the output and the running app to judge progress instead of inspecting the code closely. This makes building fast and accessible, but it also means you are trusting code you may not fully understand.
- You describe the goal in plain language, not in code.
- The AI writes, edits and often runs the code for you.
- You judge success by the result, then prompt the next change.
Where it shines, and where it bites
Vibe coding is great for prototypes, throwaway scripts, learning and getting a first version on screen quickly. The risk shows up when vibe-coded software goes to real users: code you never reviewed can hide security holes, break in edge cases, or become impossible to maintain. The honest practice is to vibe code freely while exploring, then slow down, read the code, add tests and harden it before anything ships.
Vibe coding vs agentic engineering
Vibe coding and agentic engineering both use AI to write code, but they are not the same. Vibe coding optimises for speed and feel and accepts not understanding the result. Agentic engineering keeps you in charge: you still drive an AI agent, but with clear goals, tests, reviews and verification so the output is production-grade. Think of vibe coding as the fun on-ramp and agentic engineering as how you turn that into something you can trust in production.