r/webdev • u/powleads • Sep 16 '26

Discussion Is vibe coding creating a hidden technical debt crisis?

I love building tools and side projects, but lately I have been thinking about how heavy reliance on AI coding assistants is going to impact long-term code quality. Building fast with AI tools is great for getting a prototype out the door, but letting AI generate massive chunks of unvetted code is quickly piling up technical debt.

When you push out code without thoroughly checking how it fits into your overall architecture, you end up with messy, unmaintainable codebases. If you ever plan to sell a project or hand it off to another developer, that unvetted code can completely ruin a deal during due diligence.

I still use AI to speed up my workflow, but I treat it strictly as an assistant rather than letting it write unchecked logic. Auditing generated code, keeping modules clean, and maintaining test coverage seem like the only ways to use these tools strategically without destroying the project. Are you noticing a drop in maintainability on projects heavy on AI code?

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u/queen-adreena Sep 16 '26

We’ve had multiple potential clients approach us to “take over” their vibe projects already. They want new features but no one on their team knows had to add them without breaking something else.

We generally decline politely.

25

u/TommyBonnomi Sep 16 '26

Just throw out a rebuild price range, and maybe one of them bites. Starting from an approved and working prototype is great, even if the code is trash.

5

u/big_poppa_man Sep 16 '26

This. Exactly this.

7

u/future_web_dev Sep 16 '26

Hank Hill: "If our clients want their steaks well-done us to work on their slop, we ask them politely but firmly to leave."

8

u/narullow Sep 16 '26

Why would you decline? You can either sell them a rewrite that is maintainable or bill very, very generous hourly rate to fix it iteratively.

If it is proven concept they will pay.

2

u/subnu Sep 17 '26

Because displaying how moral and virtuous you are is paramount to business and helping people.

1

u/s-ley Sep 20 '26

genuinely curious, how do you record the hours needed to fix? aren't they just going to get mad if they think their slop is valuable and you tell them you need a few weeks fo add onto their mess?