17d • General discussion
Vide Coding vs Spec-Driven Prompts
(and why most people are stuck)
There are two very different ways people try to build with AI right now.
Most don’t realize they’re choosing one by accident.
1️⃣ Vibe Coding
This is the default.
You open an editor.
You start prompting.
You react to what comes out.
It feels fast.
It feels creative.
It feels like progress.
But the loop looks like this:
Prompt → Output → Tweak → Break → Re-prompt → Confusion
You’re suddenly responding instead of directing.
Vibe coding is great for:
- Exploration
- Learning
- Getting unstuck
It’s terrible for:
- Finishing apps
- Maintaining systems
- Shipping consistently
Most projects die HERE.
2️⃣ Spec-Driven Prompts
This is what we practice in the Inner Loop.
Before you ask the AI to write code, you define:
- The goal
- The constraints
- The inputs and outputs
- What “done” actually means
Then you prompt against the spec.
Now the loop becomes:
Spec → Prompt → Output → Verify → Ship
The AI stops being a creative partner
and becomes an execution engine.
This is how you:
- Avoid over-engineering
- Reduce rewrites
- Finish what you start
There is ONE BIG Difference
Vibe coding feels productive now.
Spec-driven prompting compounds over time.
One optimizes for speed of typing.
The other optimizes for speed to shipping.
Most people don’t fail because AI isn’t good enough.
They fail because they never slow down to decide.
That’s what the Inner Loop trains:
- Clear specs
- Small scope
- Repeatable build patterns
Not “better prompts”.
Better thinking before prompting.
Thank you for reading this far along! 🩵
Now I would like to know: What are you building this weekend?
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Vide Coding vs Spec-Driven Prompts
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