This manifesto defines the transition from traditional "line-by-line" engineering to System Orchestration. In an era of infinite compute and 4B+ token years, the bottleneck is no longer syntax; it is the clarity of the vision and the rigor of the feedback loop.
I. The Core Pillars
- Logic over Syntax: We no longer spend "cognitive gold" on bracket placement or API signatures. We spend it on architectural intent, data flow, and edge-case discovery.
- The "Plan, Delegate, Test" Loop:
- Plan: Define the "vibe" (the soul and functionality of the feature).
- Delegate: Hand the heavy lifting to the models (Cursor, Claude, Gemini).
- Test: Validate the output ruthlessly. If the test fails, refine the plan — do not "tinker" with the delegate's code.
- Momentum is the Metric: A project that sits for three days is a dead project. We use AI to bypass the "frustration plateaus" that previously caused us to abandon repositories.
- Vibe-Environment Parity: Productivity is a function of tool access. A developer without the latest models is a developer working with one hand tied behind their back.
II. The Shipping Standards
- Small & Atomic: We ship small features fast (vibe-ship-small). Large PRs are the enemy of AI-assisted clarity.
- The "Kill Switch" Protocol: If a feature cannot be "vibed" into existence within a reasonable iteration window, the architecture is too complex. Pivot or kill it.
- Legacy Resurrection: No code is truly "abandoned" if the intent is documented. We use AI to bridge the gap between bit-rotted repositories (e.g., ShiftIt) and modern environments.
III. The Developer's New Role: The Architect-Editor
In the Vibe Coding era, the developer evolves:
- From Writer to Reader: We must become elite readers of code to verify the AI's "hallucinated shortcuts."
- From Manual Laborer to Prompt Engineer: We treat our LLMs as highly capable, but literal, junior engineers.
- From Problem Solver to Problem Definer: The value is in what we build and why, not the hours spent debugging a race condition.
IV. The "Spare Time" Paradox
We recognize that time-constrained environments (family, day jobs) are the greatest catalysts for Vibe Coding. Because our time is scarce, we cannot afford the luxury of "slow coding." We use vibes to compress months of development into weeks of spare-time sprints.
"If the vibe is right, the code follows. If the loop is tight, the product ships."