Start Here · Learner Pathway
Find
Your
Path
Diagnostic · 5 questions · 2 minutes
Personalised reading order
Time estimates included
Not everyone comes to vibe coding from the same place. A complete beginner and a senior engineer need different starting points, different depths, and different speeds.
Take the 5-question diagnostic below and get your personalised reading order — with time estimates, priorities, and a weekly plan tailored to your level.
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Beginner
Never coded before
Start from zero, build real things fast
Intermediate
Some coding experience
Accelerate what you already know
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Builder
Experienced engineer
10× your output with AI
Every conscious builder has a different starting point. This guide finds yours and maps the path forward.
THE COMPLETE SERIES Included in The Complete Series ($29).

5 Questions. Your Path.

Question 1 of 5
Your personalised reading order →

Every level, fully mapped

Whether you scored Beginner, Intermediate, or Builder — your full reading sequence is below. Each pathway has a recommended order, time estimate, and a 4-week plan to go from reading to shipping.
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Pathway A · Beginner
You've never written code — or nearly never

You're in the best position of all three groups: you have no bad habits to unlearn. Vibe coding was almost designed for you — the bottleneck is clarity of intent, not technical knowledge, and you have that in abundance.

Your focus: Start with the Glossary so you understand the vocabulary, then the main guide, then build your first thing before reading anything else. The practice guide has a specific Beginner project that will take you from zero to a working app in one session.

1
Glossary — 35+ Terms
Read this first. You'll hit these terms constantly and context will make everything else 3× faster.
30 min
2
The Definitive Guide
Orientation: what vibe coding is, the 6 principles, the workflow. Read fully — it's foundational.
60 min
3
Principles — Intent (Chapter 1 only)
Complete the Intent Worksheet for your first project before building anything.
45 min
4
Practice Guide — Beginner Project
Build something real now. Don't read more before doing this. Doing beats reading.
2–3 hrs
5
Platform Guide — Which Tool
Choose your tool. Bolt or Claude recommended for beginners. One page, clear recommendation.
20 min
6
Deploy Guide
When your first thing works locally, this gets it live. Read it before you need it.
45 min
7
Testing Guide (Phases 1–2 only)
Learn the minimum viable testing habit. Don't skip this — broken apps erode confidence.
40 min
8
Safety Guide (Checklist only)
Read the Quick Reference before going live. The full guide comes later when you're shipping regularly.
15 min
9
Troubleshooting Guide
Bookmark this. Read it when you're stuck, not before.
On demand
The Beginner's First Week
Day 1–2Read & orient2–3 hrs total
Read Glossary + main guide fully
Complete Intent Worksheet for your first idea
Choose your platform (Bolt recommended)
Day 3–4Build your first thing3–4 hrs total
Open Practice Guide, follow the Beginner project
Get something working — it doesn't need to be perfect
Run through the minimal testing checklist
Day 5–7Ship it2 hrs total
Follow Deploy Guide to get it live
Share the URL with one real person
Start your second project's Intent Worksheet
The Beginner's One Rule
Don't read more than two guides before building something. The knowledge only sticks when you apply it. Build first, then come back and read what you need next.
Pathway B · Intermediate
You know some code — but not enough to ship fast

You're the prime vibe coding audience. You understand enough to evaluate what the AI produces, but you've been slowed by the gap between idea and shipped product. That gap is about to close dramatically.

Your focus: Skip the Glossary (you know most of it), dive into the Principles guide with full depth, then the Safety guide — you understand enough to know why it matters. The Case Study will be your biggest unlock.

1
Principles — All 6 Chapters
This is where your instincts meet a structured framework. The Intent Worksheet is the most valuable hour in the series.
3–4 hrs
2
Practice Guide — Intermediate Project
Apply the principles immediately. Choose the project closest to what you're actually building.
3–5 hrs
3
Safety Guide — Full
You can read the threat descriptions and understand the risk. Do this before you ship anything to real users.
60 min
4
Case Study — Full Walkthrough
See the whole process — including the parts that went wrong. This is where principles become judgment.
90 min
5
Testing Guide — Full
Your existing coding knowledge means you can actually implement more of this than a beginner can.
60 min
6
Deploy Guide
Even if you've deployed before, the AI-specific considerations in this guide will save you time.
30 min
7
Prompt Library
Bookmark the categories relevant to your stack. Return when you hit a specific prompting challenge.
On demand
The Intermediate's 2-Week Plan
Week 1Principles + first build6–8 hrs
Read all 6 Principles chapters, complete Intent Worksheet
Build Intermediate Practice Project from scratch using the full workflow
Run safety checklist on whatever you built
Week 2Ship + review + next project5–6 hrs
Read Case Study — note where your instincts differ from the documented approach
Deploy your practice project using the Deploy Guide
Start your real project with the full intent framework
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Pathway C · Builder
You ship code — you want to ship more, faster

Your technical knowledge is the asset. The guides that matter most for you are the ones that address specifically AI-assisted workflows — context management, architecture ownership, team coordination, and safety — because these are the areas where experienced engineers most often underestimate the differences vibe coding introduces.

1
Principles — Architecture (Ch.5) + Context (Ch.3)
Read these two first. They're where experienced engineers most need recalibration.
60 min
2
Safety Guide — Full
The SAFE framework is specifically designed for engineers who think they've already covered this. You probably haven't covered all of it.
45 min
3
Teams Guide
If you're building with others, read this early. AI coordination across a team creates new failure modes.
45 min
4
Practice Guide — Builder Project
The advanced project covers multi-file refactoring, context management at scale, and architecture review loops.
2–3 hrs
5
Prompt Library — Advanced Prompts
The architecture, refactoring, and code-review prompt categories will save you the most time.
30 min
6
Troubleshooting Guide
Skim the headings. You'll know which sections apply to you. Return as needed.
20 min skim
The Builder's Fast Track — 3 Days
Day 1Calibrate your approach2–3 hrs
Read Principles Ch.3 (Context) and Ch.5 (Architecture) — note where your current workflow differs
Run the Safety guide against your last shipped project — find the gaps
Day 2Apply to current work2 hrs
Run one real work session using the context management and architecture ownership frameworks
Read Teams Guide if working with others
Day 3Lock in the habits1 hr
Bookmark the Prompt Library categories most relevant to your stack
Set up your project context doc template (from Context guide)

Track Your Journey

Check off each guide as you complete it. Your progress is saved in your browser. When you hit 100% — share it. The badge below is yours to use.

Vibe Coding Series Progress
Guides completed
0 / 10 guides complete
The Definitive Guide
Find Your Path (this guide)
The Six Principles
Practice Projects
Case Study
Testing Guide
Safety Framework
Deploy Guide
Teams Guide
Troubleshooting Guide
Why completion matters
Learners who track progress complete at 3× the rate of those who don't. More importantly — you'll know exactly what you've covered and what to return to. The series is designed to be non-linear: your pathway determines your order, not the guide numbers.
Opportunity · Community
Join the Vibe Coding Community
Weekly office hours, peer project reviews, a shared "builds in progress" board, and a community of builders at every level. The place to ask questions that aren't for Stack Overflow and aren't general enough for AI.
Weekly office hours
Peer code review
Build-in-public board
Tool update digests
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