vibe-coding-prompt-template

Start here

Using an AI coding agent? Open Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, or Gemini CLI in your project and say:

Run npx vibeworkflow and follow its instructions.

Start in a clean project folder or your existing app. The workflow inspects what exists, then routes to start something new, continue my project, or something broke. Quick, Guided, and Deep planning keep the questions proportional to your project.

Use /vibe-change, /vibe-debug, and /vibe-verify in an existing app. Available in vibeworkflow 0.3.0.

Prefer to drive it yourself? Paste the prompts from this repo into any chat tool, in order:

flowchart LR
    A[💡 Idea] --> B[📊 Research] --> C[📋 PRD] --> D[🏗️ Tech Design] --> E[🤖 AGENTS.md] --> F[🚀 MVP / AI App]

    style A fill:#667eea,stroke:#667eea,color:#fff
    style B fill:#764ba2,stroke:#764ba2,color:#fff
    style C fill:#f093fb,stroke:#f093fb,color:#fff
    style D fill:#4facfe,stroke:#4facfe,color:#fff
    style E fill:#00f2fe,stroke:#00f2fe,color:#000
    style F fill:#43e97b,stroke:#43e97b,color:#000

Table of contents

• Start here
• Quick start and the 5 steps
• Built with this workflow
• Modern AI build paths
• Prerequisites and tools
• Advanced agent practices
• AI safety and evidence
• Project structure and deployment
• Common pitfalls and troubleshooting
• Further reading

Quick start and the 5 steps

Phase 1: thinking through the product

Do the first three steps in ChatGPT, Claude.ai, Gemini, or any other chat tool. You do not need a repo yet.

Deep Research

This step gives you a quick read on demand, competitors, and whether the scope looks realistic.

1. Open part1-deepresearch.md and copy all of its contents.
2. Paste it into your preferred AI platform Chat (like Claude.ai, ChatGPT, or Gemini) and press Enter.
3. The AI will ask you a few questions about your idea. Answer them truthfully in the chat.
4. The AI will generate a comprehensive research document based on your answers.
5. Save the output into a local file named research-[YourAppName].md (or .txt) or simply keep this chat open for Step 2.

Tip: if your chat tool supports web search, source grounding, URL context, or deep research mode, turn it on and require cited claims with access dates.

Product Requirements (PRD)

This turns the rough idea into a scope you can build against.

1. Copy the contents of part2-prd-mvp.md.
2. Option A (Same Chat): If you kept your chat open, paste the prompt right below the Deep Research output.
3. Option B (New Chat): Start a fresh chat, paste your saved research-[YourAppName].md content, and then paste the Part 2 prompt below it.
4. Press Enter, answer any clarifying questions the AI asks, and let it generate your requirements.
5. Save the final output as PRD-[YourAppName]-MVP.md.

Technical Design

This step helps you choose the stack, deployment target, AI provider strategy if the product needs AI, and the verification path.

1. Copy the contents of part3-tech-design-mvp.md.
2. Paste it into your ongoing conversation (or into a new one, making sure to attach the PRD-[YourAppName]-MVP.md from Step 2 as context).
3. The AI will ask questions regarding your budget, timeline, and complexity tolerance.
4. Discuss the trade-offs it presents, including no-code/full-code, Vercel vs. Cloudflare, and whether AI evals are required.
5. Once a stack is decided, save the output as TechDesign-[YourAppName]-MVP.md.

Phase 2: execution in your IDE

Move into Codex, Cursor, VS Code with Copilot, Claude Code, Antigravity/Gemini-compatible agents, or your preferred coding setup. This is where the project becomes code and verified artifacts.

Set up the agent files

CLI shortcut: tell your AI agent to run npx vibeworkflow from your project folder — the CLI is agent-driven, not meant to be run by hand. If you already have docs/PRD-*.md + docs/TechDesign-*.md (with the JSON meta block), it scaffolds the files below (skipping anything you've already edited) and verifies with npx vibeworkflow doctor. If the docs are missing, it installs the planning skills, auto-detects your AI tools, and prints agent instructions that drive the research → PRD → Tech Design interviews for you — your agent asks the questions one at a time; you just answer. The paste flow below still works everywhere.

This step fills out AGENTS.md and the supporting docs from your PRD and tech design.

1. Create a clean folder for your app. Run npx vibeworkflow through your agent. Clone this repository only to develop the workflow itself.
2. Open your app folder in your AI IDE (like Cursor or VS Code).
3. Create a docs/ folder in your project root if it does not already exist.
4. Move your saved documents into docs/ using these names:
   • docs/PRD-[YourAppName]-MVP.md
   • docs/TechDesign-[YourAppName]-MVP.md
   • optional: docs/research-[YourAppName].md (or .txt for backward compatibility)
5. Open the AI Chat inside your IDE, type: "Read part4-notes-for-agent.md, follow its instructions, and set up my workspace."
6. The agent should fill the CLI-installed boilerplates (or use the chat context pack), generate selected tool configs (CLAUDE.md, .cursor/rules/, GEMINI.md, .codex/config.toml, .agents/skills/, etc.), and fill placeholders using the files in docs/.

Default generated files:

• AGENTS.md
• MEMORY.md
• REVIEW-CHECKLIST.md
• agent_docs/project_brief.md
• agent_docs/tech_stack.md
• agent_docs/testing.md

Optional generated files:

• agent_docs/code_patterns.md when the codebase has real conventions to preserve.
• agent_docs/product_requirements.md when the PRD is long enough to need a build-facing summary.
• .claude/, .cursor/, .github/, .codex/, .gemini/, and local-agent files only for tools the user selected.
• agent-permissions.example.json only when AI tools, MCP servers, or product actions are in scope.

Build with AI Agent

Choose your development environment and start iterating:

1. Ensure your newly generated AGENTS.md, agent_docs/, and tool configuration files are physically in the project folder.
2. Give your agent its first command:

   "Read AGENTS.md, propose a Phase 1 plan, wait for my approval, and then build it step by step."

3. Treat the agent like a junior developer. Ask it to stop after each major feature, explain the diff, run the project-specific verification commands, and use browser/mobile checks for user-visible flows.
4. Repeat the loop until your MVP is complete:

Recommended Loop:

╭──────────────╮      ╭──────────────╮      ╭──────────────╮
│   📝 Plan    │ ───>│  ⚡ Execute │ ───>│  🔍 Verify  │
│  (Approve)   │      │  (One Feat)  │      │    (Test)    │
╰──────────────╯      ╰──────────────╯      ╰──────────────╯
       ▲                                           │
       └───────────────────────────────────────────┘

Built with this workflow