Phase 2: Describing What You Want · 25 min · Any vibe coding tool
Plan First, Then Build
Ask the AI to outline before it builds. A 2-minute plan review saves a 20-minute rebuild.
Hiring signal: What changes when you use this: you catch architecture and scope issues before code is written — which means fewer rebuilds and cleaner builds.
What you will learn
- Use the plan-first prompt pattern to get an outline before code
- Review an AI's plan for scope and architecture issues
- Know when to approve, modify, or reject a plan
- Understand the cost of skipping the plan step
Your Mission
Use the plan-first prompt pattern to get an architecture plan from the AI before it builds. Review, approve/modify/reject, then build. Output: plan_first_build.md.
You need: Any AI coding tool. A text editor.
Time: 30 minutes.
Step 1: Write a Spec with the Plan-First Sentence (5 min)
Write a spec for a small app using the 5-part framework from Lesson 01. Then add this sentence at the end:
"Before you write any code, outline your approach: what files you'll create, what each file does, what technologies you'll use, and what the page structure will be. Wait for my approval before building."
This transforms the interaction from spec → code to spec → plan → (your review) → code.
Write in your file:
Unlock the full lesson
You've read the first 2 sections. The rest of this lesson covers My Spec, Plan-First Sentence, Step 2: Review the AI's Plan (10 min), AI's Plan, My Review, Step 3: Approve, Modify, or Reject (5 min), My Decision: [Approve / Modify / Reject], Step 4: Build and Compare (10 min), Result, You're Done — plus a hands-on lab, quiz, and project artifact.
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