Vibe Coding: How Far Should We Use It? Best Practices, Limits, and Risks
Source: Dev.to
The High Is Real — So Is the Crash
The first time vibe coding really worked for me, it felt unreal. I described a feature in plain English. No Stack Overflow. No docs. No context switching. Just flow. That feeling is powerful — and honestly, a little dangerous. A few weeks later, I trusted that same flow in a real project and ended up doing a late‑night rollback after realizing I’d shipped a subtle security bug.
This post isn’t anti‑AI. I still vibe code regularly, but I’ve learned where it helps — and where it absolutely doesn’t.
What Is Vibe Coding?
To me, vibe coding is when you stop thinking line‑by‑line and start coding by intent:
- “Generate a basic CRUD API”
- “Create a settings page with validation”
- “Add auth middleware”
- “Refactor this into something cleaner”
It’s a form of AI‑assisted development optimized for momentum and flow.
Why Developers Love It
- Faster starts
- Less boilerplate
- Fewer blank screens
- You stay in the problem, not the syntax
Used carefully, it’s a productivity multiplier.
Where Vibe Coding Works Well
Early‑Stage Ideas
Early‑stage ideas are disposable by design. Vibe coding lets you:
- Validate ideas quickly
- Ship faster
- Kill bad ideas sooner
When the goal is learning or demoing, speed matters more than structure. I don’t overthink quality here — I just make sure it runs.
Boilerplate‑Heavy Parts
- Admin panels, scripts, dashboards
- Forms, tables, layout components, API wrappers
I rarely hand‑write these anymore. This is where AI shines.
Where Vibe Coding Fails
Mature Codebases
Once a codebase has history, shared abstractions, and multiple teams, AI misses context. It doesn’t know why things are weird — only how they look.
Security‑Sensitive Areas
Auth, permissions, payments, user data. Secure coding with AI requires real discipline. AI optimizes for “working,” not “safe.” Anything full of “except when” rules and edge cases tends to break quietly. The code looks clean but fails in reality.
A Real Example
I once used vibe coding to generate a role‑based access layer for an internal SaaS tool. The tests passed. The demo worked. The code looked solid.
What I missed
- A fallback path defaulted to “allow”
- A missing role check exposed data to the wrong users
Nothing catastrophic happened — but it easily could have.
What I learned
- AI doesn’t threat‑model
- “Looks right” isn’t the same as “is safe”
- Human review isn’t optional for critical paths
Since then, anything auth‑related gets slowed down on purpose.
Lessons Learned & Healthy Practices
My Current Rule
If I can’t explain how this fails, I’m not done.
Healthy Vibe Coding
- AI drafts, I refine
- AI suggests, I challenge
- AI accelerates, I own
Unhealthy Vibe Coding
- “It works, ship it”
- “The AI probably handled that”
- “We’ll clean it up later”
These attitudes lead to:
- Insecure defaults (missing validation, auth, rate limits)
- Hardcoded secrets (API keys, tokens, “temporary” creds)
- Risky dependencies (outdated or vulnerable packages)
- Overconfidence in clean‑looking code
Best Practices for Safe AI‑Assisted Development
- Mandatory code reviews for anything non‑trivial
- Manual testing — break your own features
- Static analysis and dependency scanning
- Explicit security passes on critical code
- Small commits with clear intent
AI can write code fast. Engineers are still responsible for the outcome.
Conclusion
I’m not giving up vibe coding, but I no longer treat it as magic. When used well, it:
- Speeds up development
- Reduces mental load
- Makes coding more enjoyable
When used carelessly, it:
- Hides complexity
- Creates security debt
- Pushes problems downstream
Vibe coding accelerates — it doesn’t replace engineering. Experience, not hype, teaches you where the line really is.
What about you?
Where has vibe coding helped you the most — or bitten you the hardest?