The Vibe Coder's Quality Field Guide: Stop Shipping Broken AI-Generated Code

The Vibe Coder's Quality Field Guide Stop Shipping Broken AI-Generated Code A practical reference for developers who use AI to build — and want what they ship to actually work. Why This Guide Exists You've felt it. You describe what you want, the AI produces something that looks right, you run it, and it breaks. Or worse — it works in demo, breaks in production. Or it works today and breaks when you add the next feature. This isn't a problem with AI. It's a problem with how most people use AI to build software. This guide is the playbook for doing it right. Part 1: Before You Write a Single Prompt 1.1 Define the Contract First The #1 mistake: letting the AI design the architecture while you're describing a feature. Before any code, write down: What goes in (inputs, formats, sources) What comes out (outputs, formats, destinations) What can fail (error cases, edge cases, limits) What success looks like (specific, measurable) If you can't write this in plain English in 5 minutes, you're n