Phase 0: Vibe Coding Fundamentals · 25 min · Claude Code, Cursor, Lovable, v0, Bolt.new, Replit Agent, or similar

The Mental Model: Director, Not Typist

You're the director. The AI is the typist. The code is the script. You don't need to type — but you need to know what you want.

Hiring signal: What changes when you use this: you stop trying to write code and start directing it — which means you can build things you couldn't build before, because the bottleneck was never your typing speed.

What you will learn

Understand the three roles you play: describer, reviewer, decider
Recognize what happens when you abdicate all three roles to the AI
Practice directing AI before it builds — not after it fails
Know when to take back the keyboard and type something yourself

Your Mission

You're going to direct a real build using three roles: describer, reviewer, decider. By the end, you'll have a director_playbook.md with a build description, a review of the AI's output, and specific corrections — proving you can direct, not just accept.

You need: An AI coding tool (Lovable, v0, Bolt.new, Cursor, or similar).

Time: 30 minutes.

Step 1: Write the Description (5 min)

Before opening any tool, write a description for something small. Use this framework:

What it is: "A single-page expense tracker"
Who it's for: "Just me, tracking personal expenses"
What it does: "Add expense with amount, category, date, note. Show list sorted by date. Show total at top."
What it looks like: "Clean, mobile-first, light mode, blue accent (#2563eb)"
What you don't want: "No login, no backend, no charts — localStorage only"

Bad: "Build me a website" Good: "Build a single-page expense tracker. Add expense with amount, category, date, and note. Categories: Food, Transport, Office, Other. Show list sorted by date descending. Show total at top. Clean UI, mobile-first, light mode, blue accent (#2563eb). Use localStorage — no backend, no login, no charts."

Write your description in your file:

Unlock the full lesson

You've read the first 2 sections. The rest of this lesson covers My Build Description, Step 2: Feed It to the AI and Watch (5 min), Step 3: Review the Output (10 min), Review of AI's First Build, Step 4: Write Specific Corrections (5 min), My Corrections, Step 5: Reflect on the Three Roles (5 min), Role Reflection, You're Done — plus a hands-on lab, quiz, and project artifact.

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