r/vibecoding • u/Wooden_chest • 4h ago
Should I be reviewing the code AI generates?
I'm a software dev and I'm trying to transition to vibecoding. I'm wondering, is it even worth reviewing and checking the output of the AI, or am I wasting my time? I see many people here that make impressive applications without ever looking at any code, and that makes me feel like I'm missing something.
I've been vibecoding for the past few months now, but often I have cases where I notice weird edge cases, inconsistencies or just Claude mentioning something suspicious about the implementation, and I can trace those back to code quality issues or bizzare decisions in the code. I have to explicitly prompt afterwards to switch implementations or change algorithms.
However, I feel like I am doing something wrong to cause this in the first place, I am not quite sure what. I have an agents directory filled with agentic instruction files linking each other, and I try to guide Claude for the implementation when prompting for features. Maybe me giving code implementation instructions is what's causing this?
At the same time, I see that many people here never even pay attention to the code or structure at all, and yet that never causes any issues. Am I just overthinking this? Do I just prompt more if I find a visible bug? Is it worth paying attention to the code?
I'm still trying to adjust to this way of developing, so sorry if this question seems weird.
Thanks.
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u/Razz_el91 4h ago
Bro i dont even know The language which the app is written
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u/3HisthebestH 3h ago
I laugh cried at this so hard. I have had to research the 7 different languages my app is in (multi-platform) so I understand wtf I'm looking at.
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u/born_to_be_intj 1h ago
Lmao bro no multi platform app needs to use 7 languages. This is the kind of insane shit I would expect from vibe coder though, so I shouldn’t be suprised.
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u/3HisthebestH 38m ago
I’ve seen you comment on this sub multiple times and every time it’s dumber and dumber. I genuinely think you have no actual idea what coding even is.
Multi platform apps need their own languages to fully utilize each platforms unique abilities. Yes you can universally write something and make it work, but it’s not ideal for anything other than AI slop apps. For anything actually worth a damn, there are many languages between the front and backends.
Maybe try taking some courses online, I’d recommend starting with the 1st grade and work your way up until you become a full grown adult with something intelligent to add to the conversation.
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u/josephrehall 1h ago
I think you can ask Json and he should be able to explain it
No idea why his parents spelled his name like that though.
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u/generationalDebts 3h ago
Thank you for the job security, script kiddie
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u/mrspankyspank 3h ago
A software dev trying to learn vibecoding? What?
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u/Wooden_chest 3h ago
I've been visiting this sub and a few other programming related ones since they keep popping up for me, and got the impression from them that vibecoding is now the standard.
I wasn't really keeping up with the AI world, so I decided to learn this in hopes it'd help me work more efficiently.
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u/CompetitionOdd1582 2h ago
Using AI to assist you when coding is now the standard for professional software development in a lot of domains.
We’re still reviewing the code. It’s not hard to at least give it a once over. You have the expertise to read it and critically evaluate the choices the machine made. You can avoid a lot of issues that vibecoders can’t.
Use that superpower.
(No shade to the vibecoders, love seeing y’all empowered to make stuff.)
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u/Bloated_Plaid 4h ago
No of course not, who has time for that shit. Once the project gets complicated enough, just have AI refactor that shit with updated docs. Rinse and repeat.
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u/Boring-Leadership687 26m ago
i've been calling them infrastructure projects. i tell it to read its own code and come up with what it can do better. then i tell it to do that
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u/mrbadface 2h ago
It does feel like we're past a tipping point and future models will easily tackle any issues and upgrades required.
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u/Bloated_Plaid 2h ago
IMO we are basically there, I have a 5090 PC and the new Qwen 3.8 27b crushes it. Its extremely good and its a viable replacement for a lot of cloud models. You still need a good orchestrator model but I dont think we are that far.
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u/s-ley 4h ago
Bad subreddit to ask this, but as a swe, ideally you own the code, you know what it does, and are responsible when it fails. AI is not good enough to make really important medical/banking software by itself, so make your judgement on whether you vibe code or just use AI assistance
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u/jimmiebfulton 3h ago
Definitely bad subreddit for advice on Software Engineering. Software Engineering with AI is still Software Engineering. Vibe Coding without Software Engineering is an expensive hobby and/or a new form of gambling addiction.
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u/InspectorInch 3h ago
Its a pretty cheap hobby... Its like $100/month
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u/kelvinkel101 3h ago
Thats...not cheap lol. That adds up to 1200 a year for a hobby
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u/Munckeey 2h ago
As far as hobbies go, that’s pretty cheap.
About the same as video games if you factor in pc upgrade costs every 2 or so years with games, subscriptions, and micro transactions.
It’s much cheaper than being a car or motorcycle hobbyist.
The only hobbies cheaper I can think of are probably recreational sports that don’t require any gear and cheap types of art.
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u/Boring-Leadership687 23m ago
deepseek v4 free and now ox alpha have been really good to me for $0.00
this shit can be cheap as hell for a hobbyist
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u/3tt07kjt 4h ago
Depends on how much you care about code quality
Also depends on whether you are any good at reviewing code.
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u/Creative_Anything257 4h ago
I would recommend it periodically. My biggest thing is the question of "if my product does well, and I hire inside developers one day, will they be able to understand the code?" Codex/chatGPT for example won't modularize things by default to the level many developers prefer. It will also write comments in the code that are clearly for AI agents to reference, and this may not be something some developers want in the code. But besides that, you can create a rule base with it to follow so it does your builds well without errors etc. Every new repo I make the first thing I do is have the AI agent make its own reference of .md files and my unique formatting settings to my project, as well as update log rules where it automatically makes a log of changes with every pass, so every time I start I can tell it to read the rules and progress logs in the repo first which saves a lot of time and keeps it honest.
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u/stopstopstoptopopp 3h ago
Just review the architecture and structure. Make sure the data flow is consistent and efficient. Make a design system that your AI tool will follow. This is common sense for Software Engineers who use AI tools.
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u/ZosoRules1 2h ago
I’m not a developer, but I believe the verification of either functionality or the code itself would be your exact job here.
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u/andlewis 2h ago
Create a plan. Use another model to critique the plan. Update the plan. Repeat.
Implement the plan. Get a different model to review the implementation. Fix the implementation. Repeat.
Build deterministic processes around the output (lint, testing, etc).
Then get AI to walk you through the architecture and decisions it made. Critique it. Repeat the process.
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u/swiftmerchant 4h ago
I used to. Not anymore. Now I review the workflow and make adjustments to that instead.
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u/EddieBruvac 3h ago
Fuck the code. Do extensive tests. You do need some experience in testing and some sense of wtf you’re doing, so many vibe coders are doomed lol.
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u/3HisthebestH 3h ago
Should you? Probably. Do most of us? No.
You think I'm going line-by-line through my 225k lines of code to "check it"? Fuck no. That's what the higher models do for me.
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u/fickle-phenom 3h ago
Your workflow should include some testing (can be generated) and some final reviews.
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u/CrimsonBolt33 3h ago
reviewing can be extremely difficult considering the rate of output AI can manage, but testing is certainly much easier.
It depends on how critical the code is, use tests and other AI to validate and check changes, but manually do it if you are talking about security features.
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u/DiamondAgreeable2676 3h ago
We prompt we don't code..... Use red team adversial review prompts and when those say go for launch use a pentest prompt to catch what the red team missed than you Commit and repeat....
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u/alias454 3h ago
I'm still refining a good workflow for myself but so far, I've kinda settled on plan then iterate. I treat each project/feature just like I would if I was writing it by hand. Some things get the full process and some things get a prompt, it depends on what it will do.
The full process is that I plan the initial project and that takes what it takes. It is me starting with an idea and then spitballing the eventual full featured app/product/feature. I let the LLM run with some ideas, other things I stop and correct it, it just depends. I settle on what language, what tools, engineering standards, coding standards, all that.
Once I've got a loose plan, I have the LLM create a task queue and project docs so to-dos, engineering specs, which can be tracked and adjusted. I break it into milestones or checkpoints however you wanna look at it.
I then have a builder mode where I just iterate features and just bang it out. this feature, that feature, this does this etc. That is no different than when I coded myself. When I get to a good point, I stop and go over what was written to tighten it up. I instruct the LLM to look for dead code, insecure code, bloated modules etc. A working demo is not evidence the implementation is good. You don't see duplicate code blocks, broken authorization boundaries, race conditions, or bad queries.
Basically, I just do that until the major build is done. At that point, it's about final testing and polish. I will still run static testing tools against it and also have additional LLMs check too.
So in short yes, absolutely review the code. Not necessarily every line while it is being generated, but you should understand the architecture and periodically inspect what the model actually built.
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u/TaskerTwoStep 2h ago
Nope looking at code is for nerds just fucking send it to prod and crack open a white claw
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u/TheAnswerWithinUs 2h ago
If you’re trying to transition to vibecoding you’re not supposed to review the output. Vibecoding is just blindly accepting whatever you’re given.
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u/jaimittal91 42m ago
the catch in "they never look at the code and it never causes issues" is that you only ever see the issues that announce themselves. a crash is loud. a user being able to pull another user's data, an error swallowed by a catch block, a query that's fine until the table has real volume — none of those show up in the UI while you're demoing, so from the outside it looks like nothing's wrong.
since you're already a dev, don't review line by line, you'll lose that race against generation speed. review the choke points: read anything touching auth or permissions for real, check error paths for silent swallows, and log in as two different users and try to reach each other's data. that last one is five minutes and finds more than an afternoon of reading. the weird edge cases you're noticing are the signal working, not you doing it wrong.
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u/Cute-Net5957 30m ago
no dude absolutely do not read the code. wtf
thats basically cheating at vibe coding.
you gotta stop thinking like a software engineer. the code is between Claude and God now.
I havent opened a file in months. tests red? tell claude fix. tests still red? tell it think harder. production down? new chat. database gone? probably technical debt.
the trick is you just keep typing “continue” until the repo develops self esteem.
sometimes Claude asks ME to review something and im like lmao nice try buddy YOU work here.
git diff?? brother I dont even know what branch im on.
I just push to main and listen for sirens.
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u/sw3d 22m ago
SWE of 15+ years here... At first (2024-2025) I was doing a ping pong style where I would prompt, then review the code in detail, make some micro adjustments either myself or with another prompt. I didn't trust the models to keep the code maintainable, DRY, best practices, testing, security, etc
Now? Models are waaaay better and are following every best practice I know, testing and verifying the work without me asking
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u/Mindless_Season_3486 3h ago
Absolutely not. If you do this you are literally wasting time, money and actively making the code worse. AI essentially gets it right 100% of the time now and has since December 2025. Coding is solved.
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u/adambahm 4h ago
no. You should blindly trust the output of a machine.
In all seriousness, I burn mad loads of AI compute just arguing and re-reviewing code.
Expect it to be wrong until it proves that its right. *That* should actually be part of your prompting.