Here's the truth about when to use each. VIBE CODING (Fast to start, slow to scale) Good for: - Landing pages (30 min) - Quick prototypes (1-2 hours) - Single features (add a button, dark mode) Bad for: - Anything with 3+ interconnected features - Production apps - Code you need to maintain SPEC CODING (Fast to scale) Built by our community in weeks: - Complete SaaS with auth + payments (2 weeks) - E-commerce platform (3 weeks) - Mobile apps with offline support (4 weeks) - API services with tests (1-2 weeks) - AI-powered tools (2-3 weeks) The difference? Vibe coding: Week 1 feels fast. Week 4 you're rewriting everything. Spec coding: Week 1 feels slow (planning). Week 3 you're deployed. Simple rule: Prototype → Vibe coding Product → Spec coding The bottleneck isn't ideas. It's implementation capacity. Spec coding gives you sustainable velocity. What are you building? 👇 Learn the full workflow → asca.navan.ai

Developers are quietly making a shift. From vibe coding to spec coding. Why? Vibe coding is fast to start. You prompt AI, iterate, figure it out as you go. But it breaks down at scale. Your prototype works. Then you need features 5, 6, and 7. Now you're debugging spaghetti code and wondering where you went wrong. Spec coding is different. You spend 20 minutes writing a clear PRD. The AI generates production-ready code. Tests included. No surprises. Vibe coding: Fast to start, slow to finish. Spec coding: Slow to start, fast to scale. The bottleneck isn't ideas. It's implementation capacity. When you vibe code, you're still the bottleneck. When you spec code, AI becomes your build team. The question isn't "Can AI help me code faster?" It's "Do I want to write code or ship products?" Join 1,000+ builders learning spec coding: https://asca.navan.ai

There's a lot of chatter about spec coding but the real question is, how do I get started? Here's a quick, step-by-step guide to help you progress from vibe coding to spec coding: 1. Pick a small feature - Don't spec your entire app. Start with one feature. 2. Write a clear spec - What should it do? Who's it for? Use this format: > Problem statement > 3-5 requirements > Success criteria 3. Feed it to an AI agent - Use Cursor, Claude Code, or SAM (sam.navan.ai) 4. Review the output - You're the architect. Check if it matches your spec. 5. Iterate - Wrong? Refine your spec and try again. The quality of your code = the quality of your spec.

Here's a game-changing hack for writing technical specifications with Claude Code that most developers don't know about: Use the Spec-First directive in your prompt. Instead of asking Claude Code to build a user authentication system, try this: Write a detailed technical spec for a user authentication system, including: API endpoints, data models, security considerations, edge cases, and testing strategy. Don't write code yet. Why this works: 1. Forces complete thinking - Claude maps out the entire architecture before touching code 2. Catches design flaws early - You spot issues in the spec phase, not during debugging 3. Creates living documentation - The spec becomes your project's source of truth 4. Enables better iteration - You can refine the approach before investing in implementation Once you approve the spec, follow up with: Now implement this spec, one module at a time. The result? Cleaner code, fewer rewrites, and a documented system from day one. Try it on your next project and watch your development velocity soar. To learn spec coding, visit https://asca.navan.ai

Look, I've been using Claude Code for a few months now and I just realized most people are doing it backwards. Everyone's just throwing vague prompts at it like "build me a login system" and then spending forever going back and forth fixing stuff. There's a better way. Write the damn spec first. I'm serious. Before you even open Claude Code, spend 20 minutes writing out what you actually need. Requirements, edge cases, how the API should work, what errors to handle. Just a markdown file. Nothing fancy. Then (and this is the part nobody talks about) you point Claude Code directly at that spec file. "Implement the auth service in auth-spec.md." That's it. What happens next is honestly kind of wild. It reads the whole thing, sometimes asks you questions if something's unclear, then just builds it. Multiple files, proper error handling, tests that actually make sense. Because it knows exactly what you want. No more asking - actually can you change this fifteen times. No more - I forgot to mention we need to handle OAuth too. The spec is right there. And here's the thing that sold me: your specs don't disappear into some Google Doc graveyard. They live with your code. When you need to refactor three months later, the spec is still there telling you what the hell you were thinking. Try it once. Write a proper spec, save it as a .md file in your project, and tell Claude Code to build from it. You'll get why everyone who does this won't shut up about it. Want to learn how to practice spec coding? Join our bootcamp: https://asca.navan.ai