Phase 4: When Things Break · 20 min · Any vibe coding tool

Knowing When to Start Fresh

Starting over is not failure. It's a time-investment decision. The question is: what gets you to a working app fastest?

Hiring signal: What changes when you use this: you make good decisions about when to keep iterating vs. when to start over — which means you don't waste hours on a broken build.

What you will learn

Recognize signs it's time to start fresh vs. signs you should keep iterating
Calculate the cost: 10 more minutes of corrections vs. 30 minutes of fresh build
Understand that starting fresh doesn't mean starting from zero — reuse your spec and learnings
Overcome the psychological barrier to starting over

Your Mission

Apply the start-fresh decision framework to a real debugging situation and make a rational decision. Output: decision_log.md.

You need: A project where you're stuck (or can create a stuck situation).

Time: 20 minutes.

Step 1: Learn the Decision Framework (5 min)

Signs it's time to start fresh:

3+ failed correction rounds and the build isn't converging
Fresh-context technique didn't help
Fundamental architecture is wrong
The build is worse than the starting point
You can't identify the root cause
Each correction takes longer

Signs you should keep iterating:

The build is 70%+ working
Problems are specific and isolated
The architecture is sound
You've done fewer than 3 correction rounds
Each correction makes progress

The cost calculation:

"If I spend 10 more minutes correcting this build, what's the probability it'll be working? If I spend 30 minutes on a fresh build with a clearer spec, what's the probability it'll be working?"

If corrections: 20% chance, fresh build: 80% chance → start fresh. If corrections: 70% chance, fresh build: 90% chance → keep iterating.

The professional's secret
Professional developers start fresh more often than beginners. Not because they're less skilled, but because they recognize the sunk cost fallacy faster. A beginner thinks "I've invested 45 minutes, I can't throw that away." A professional thinks "I've invested 45 minutes and the build is worse. A fresh build takes 30 minutes. I'm saving 15 minutes by starting over."

Unlock the full lesson

You've read the first 2 sections. The rest of this lesson covers Step 2: Assess Your Situation (5 min), Situation, Step 3: Apply the Framework (5 min), Signs It's Time to Start Fresh, Signs to Keep Iterating, Cost Calculation, Step 4: Make the Decision (5 min), Decision: [Start Fresh / Keep Iterating], Reasoning, If Starting Fresh:, If Keeping Iterating:, You're Done — plus a hands-on lab, quiz, and project artifact.

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