Vibe Coding a Pokémon Search App with Replit

Source: Dev.to

Building a Pokémon Search App — without writing a single line of code

“We’re going to build a Pokémon search app. But we’re not going to write even one line of code.” 🤨

I know, coming from a developer who used to take pride in hand‑crafting every line, that sounds blasphemous. Stay with me and see how far these kinds of tools have come in just the last year.

We’ll be building the app by vibe coding: you describe what you want in plain English, and the AI does the heavy lifting. You steer it by reviewing, re‑prompting, and guiding it to the final product (that you’ll be happy with 🤞).

In this post we’ll use Replit. Future posts will tackle a few others like Cursor and Claude Code.

Edit: Here’s the version with Cursor – Vibe Coding a Pokémon Search App with Cursor.

For bonus points we won’t even type anything. Instead we’ll use a voice‑to‑code tool like WhisprFlow, or similar ones such as SuperWhisper or VoiceTypr (yes, the naming trend of dropping vowels continues 🤷‍♂️).

Previous “classic” tutorials

• Getting started with Vue 3 – building a Pokémon search application
• Getting started with React – building a Pokémon search application

Those tutorials were “old‑school” (may I say old at this point?). This one is different: same Pokémon search app, less typing, more vibes (😂 I know, my puns are terrible).

If you want to follow along, create an account on Replit.

Pro tip: copy/paste the prompts below and adapt them if you’re feeling adventurous.

1️⃣ Plan before you code

Even in vibe coding, you should start with a plan. This was TheWayToDoIt™ back in “normal” development, and it’s no different now.

1. In Replit, select Plan mode (see screenshot below).
2. Add the following prompt:

Our task is to build a Pokémon search web app. Before writing any code, produce a detailed PRD (product requirement document) (pages, components, state, API calls, error states, loading states, accessibility, folder structure, and a deployment plan for GitHub Pages).

After the PRD, list a numbered implementation checklist.

Do NOT write code yet.

You can click the Improve Prompt button (I did) and you’ll get a refined version like this:

A comprehensive web‑based Pokémon search application that allows users to search and view detailed information about Pokémon using the PokéAPI.

Core Features:
- Search Pokémon by name or ID with autocomplete suggestions
- Display detailed Pokémon information (stats, types, abilities, sprites)
- Browse and filter Pokémon list with pagination
- Responsive design that works on mobile and desktop devices

Visual References:
- Style Guide:
  - Colors: Primary #FFCB05 (Pokémon yellow), Secondary #3D7DCA (Pokémon blue), Accent #FF0000 (Pokéball red), Background #F8F8F8 (light grey), Text #2A2A2A (dark grey), Card Background #FFFFFF (white)
  - Design: Flexo/Poppins/Roboto fonts, card‑based grid layout, rounded corners (12 px radius), smooth transitions, mobile‑first responsive design, clean search interface with prominent search bar

Special Requirements:
- Must include a detailed PRD covering: pages, components, state management, API calls, error states, loading states, accessibility considerations, folder structure, and deployment plan for GitHub Pages
- Provide a numbered implementation checklist after the PRD
- DO NOT include actual code implementation – documentation and planning only

That’s a much better prompt than what I originally wrote 😬, so let’s use it. Feel free to tweak the plan if you wish.

2️⃣ Set the AI’s autonomy

• Choose High autonomy (fine for this case).
• Enable App testing – this will make the AI resolve obvious bugs that may pop up.

When you’re happy with the selections, click Start building.

3️⃣ Let the AI do its thing

In my run, Replit took 21 minutes to finish everything (it takes longer when you enable App testing) and spent $7.27. Let’s see what we got for that Frappuccino‑priced Starbucks coffee… ☕

A cool thing about Replit is that everything is integrated into their web interface: database, auth, secrets, domain purchasing, Stripe wiring, you name it. They also have a Preview pane where you can watch the app being built in real time.

[Insert screenshot or description of the generated app layout]

4️⃣ Publish the app

1. Choose a (sub)domain – I went with pokedex-nikolabreznjak.replit.
2. Click the Publish now button.

Your app is now live at:

https://pokedex-nikolabreznjak.replit.app/

⚠️ The uncomfortable truth

People who still treat AI coding tools as “cheating” or “not there yet” are losing out. Whether it’s shipping MVPs faster, getting up to speed on unfamiliar codebases, or learning in general, the opportunity cost is real.

Important: If you “just vibe code” and have absolutely no idea how the thing you built works (and have no desire to learn), you’re missing the point.

Want quality without YOLO‑coding?

1. Tell the model: “Explain what you intend to do without writing any code.”
2. Ask for a long spec document (architecture, edge cases, test plan).
3. Iterate on that doc until it’s solid.
4. Then say: “Now, implement this spec perfectly.”

🎉 Final thought

I would have never dreamed that the hottest new programming language would be [insertLanguageHere]. I say it like that because, technically, you could write in any language—the AI will handle it.

Happy vibe coding! 🚀

…and most of the tools would understand you. If not, you can throw it in a ChatGPT (or any similar tool) for translation and then feed the translated prompt into the AI tool.

No, the world won’t make devs extinct, but it surely will enable a lot of non‑devs to create things that make actual money. It’s your choice if you want to watch from the sidelines or get in on the action and see how it can help you – maybe now’s the time to do that project you never had the time for.

I’m cheering for you, good luck!

Links prepended with a * are referral links.

If you enjoy the content and decide to sign up through those links, you’ll be helping me feed my caffeine addiction ☕️

Thanks a bunch, you glorious human! 🙌

You made it to the end, here’s a 🎖️

P.S. In case you were wondering, the style has been recently influenced by the amazingly refreshing litRPG book series called Dungeon Crawler Carl.

Enjoy! 👋