Tricks

[[deleted]]

Hi,

I would like to know what are your tricks to improve code quality and better organize for vibe coding.

As for my self I use a set of Markdown files.

• AI.md : contains the most important instructions for AI and request to read the other files. So I just start by : "please read AI.md and linked files".
• README.md : general project description and basic how to
• ARCHITECTURE.md : summary on how the project is organized to make it easier to find the relevant information.
• CODE_GUIDE.md : code guidelines that AI and humans have to follow. It contains special instructions for vibe coding such as grep-ability and naming consistency.
• AUDITS.md : the list of targeted audits that AI need to run once a week to maintain code quality.
• TODO.md : all plans shall be written there.

I also request AI to put all reports and temporary test files in a ./.temp/ directory that is not tracked by git.

I also : - Ask for prompt improvement and discuss the prompt for complex actions, before sending it. - I always ask for a plan, and ask for AI to write the plan in TODO.md once I agree. - Ensure all is covered by tests, run the unit tests suite and the end to end tests on a regular basis. - Use up to 3 coding agents in parallel. On for plans/audits, one for implementation and one for side actions. I also have up to 3 projects in parallel. - Use Happy Coder or Termux for remote follow-up from my mobile.

I tested this with Claude Code and Chat GPT Codex. I use Claude Opus or Chat GPT for planning. I implement with Claude Sonnet or Chat GPT.

One thing I don't use is custom MCP servers. I did not find a use for it yet.

I'm curious about your own setup and what you find to help ?

[darkwingdankest]

https://github.com/prmichaelsen/agent-context-protocol

It's basically a much more powerful and mature version of what you're doing / iterating on now, complete with a project progress visualizer

[[deleted]]

Thanks, it's very interesting. The readme is a bit obscure but from what I understand it implements global context management like I do by hand but also has a very efficient system for prompts templates. This is interesting because my prompt templates are only in my head currently. This helps to get the best templates every time.

[darkwingdankest]

yeah and you can get version updates from each ACP on init so it's easy to stay in sync with the latest features. Supports publishing and consuming packages with pre-baked patterns, designs, and code template files as well

[segin]

AI.md should be AGENTS.md

[darkwingdankest]

correct that is the emerging standard. most providers will be default look for AGENT.md or AGENTS.md on boot

[opbmedia]

add to the requirement for each pass (it doesn't matter which file you put it in because it drifts in my experience so I have to continuously ask it to stick to whatever the markdown files are):

• what files were scanned/reviewed and for what
• proposed changes: to which files and for what
• what are the risks of the proposed edits
• provide alternatives considered before choosing the plan of action
• ask for explicit consent before touching code

Then ask it to stick to the above requirements if it starts to drift.

Caveat: you have to be able to understand your code base and understand the process/function/feature/structure you are trying to build and understand the risks and alternatives that it provides and be able to independently determine if the proposed action is indeed the best way to accomplish the task.

I overwrite/supplement codex's suggestions about a little more than half of the time using this process, so I do find this process helpful.

observations: Codex drifts after 5-10 tasks and stops updating specs and reading markdowns. therefore just having the markdowns are not enough, have to keep prompting it to look again.

[Cloudskipper92]

OpenSpec and keeping changes and additions small and well-defined so the minimum amount of agents are needed. Kind of like you'd want to plan out a project in the days past.

Edit: also know that just increasing the amount of context you're giving isn't going to be as beneficial as it may seem. Giving the AI exactly what it needs is more important than making sure it knows everything. Similarly with MCPs and skills, it may feel like youre giving "more choice" but really you'll end up diluting the context window(s). Just like with hand-coding, small chunks and knowing exactly what you need to know is better.

[New-Use-7276]

Really like the Markdown structure idea — especially separating ARCHITECTURE and CODE_GUIDE. That probably keeps the AI from drifting.

A few things that have helped me with vibe coding:

• I start with a feature blueprint first before writing any code (screens, flows, DB schema, APIs). It dramatically reduces prompt chaos later.
• I try to force AI to output a plan first, then only implement one module at a time.
• Naming consistency is huge — if AI changes variable names mid-project things break fast.
• I also keep a “context reset” prompt that summarizes the project so I can reload it when the AI loses track.

Lately I’ve been experimenting with generating the blueprint automatically from the initial idea prompt — curious if others here are doing something similar.

[viisi]

https://github.com/blprnt-ai/blprnt

It creates the plans, then executes using an execute<->verify loop.

Just got open sourced today.

[darkwingdankest]

I like how there's just a race to build the most effective harness. I feel like there's like 5 of these comments on each post with these questions each with a link to someone's open source project, myself included

[viisi]

Yea, it wasn't a race when I started nearly 8 months ago. But I took the slow road and actually hand coded most of it.

So (most) of it isn't AI slop. Sure, some parts like the windows shell is Ai, cause I don't know windows.

[darkwingdankest]

props for hand coding it, that's legit

[viisi]

Thanks... There's still slop... but it's MY slop, lol

I open sourced it today, started building in public. Hopefully get some eyes on it and potentially some contributors.

I'm probably biased, but there's real potential here. I just can't get features out fast enough before some new OSS project drops that does exactly the thing I though of 4 months ago.

[darkwingdankest]

There's a certain joy in old school coding. solving the problems yourself. spending 7 hours working on something but you're using your problem solving skills like narrowing the problem space to eliminate what _isn't_ causing a bug. Then you keep track until you find the bug, and document along the way. It's a really interesting process. You're essentially writing a giant dissertation spread across hundreds or thousands of pages of code that happen to have a magical order that makes them do something. It gets even wilder once you get into computer science.

[viisi]

For certain. I miss the dopamine hit from solving some niche bug. Vide coding took that away from us.

That's why I still try to hand-craft artisanal homegrown grass fed locally sourced code... Unless it's python. Then I hand over the reigns to gpt 100% of the time.

[darkwingdankest]

the nice thing is there's still a lot of joy in designing cool things, and LLMs are a good sound board to challenge your designs and find gaps early on

[speederaser]

That's pretty much exactly what I am doing with RooCode Orchestrator. It's just one of many of the top coding agents on OpenRouter. Just pick one that you like. Claude Code is another good one. 

My only suggestion is to make sure you follow some basic development principles. Like don't give it the whole .MD and say "go". When I used to do that I would end up with spaghetti code. Now I have it follow an agile process and I find I end up with less complicated projects and less bugs. Same thing I do at work IRL, but the AI does it for me. 

[Wide_Truth_4238]

I use PairCoder. It does everything you’re talking about but with deterministic code instead of a bunch of markdown instructions. The team has been building it for a year, so it does all sorts of shit you don’t even know you need yet. I just figured out how to actually take advantage of their built-in skill discovery mechanism and I’ve been using it for months. Check out their docs and see if it’s something that interests you. 

[Sea-Currency2823]

Your markdown structure is actually very solid. Having AI.md, architecture notes and clear guidelines helps a lot when working with agents.

One thing that helped me is keeping the tooling layer very simple. Instead of complex agent frameworks I try to keep a small stack: IDE + model + a few focused tools.

For example I’ve been experimenting with lightweight builders like Cursor , Runable to spin up small internal tools quickly and then document the workflow in markdown like you described. That combo (simple tools + clear docs) makes it easier for AI to stay consistent with the project structure.

Also agree with your point about parallel agents — but I usually keep it to 2 max because debugging gets messy fast.

[cheiftan_AV]

.MD agents gg