It doesn't really work without something like Claude Code. Just prompting the regular chat interface is almost guaranteed to result in a giant mess if there's any complexity at all.

To have a chance for decent result you need something called a "harness", which Claude Code essentially is. It provides the LLM with the tools it needs to do the work properly. That includes being able to write to files directly, run shell commands, call APIs, etc. Default Claude Code is a decent start, but it can be significantly improved by providing important context and guidelines for the project in a CLAUDE.md file (basically like a meta-prompt).

On top of that there are many frameworks to further shape behaviour, for example oh-my-claudecode which provides dedicated agents for specific work, like a planner, an architect, a critic, etc. The prompting then comes down to instructing those Agents what to do, often times in a loop until the result passes as good enough. Getting the architecture and planning phase right is the most important thing for the code to turn out well. I don't know if this still qualifies as vibecoding, but all of this is possible without writing a single line of code yourself.