Vibe Web 101 – Syllabus
Vibe coding works until it doesn’t. At one point, you’re throwing prompts into a black box and hoping it doesn’t explode. But when it breaks—and it will—you’re stuck.
In this class, I apply the 80/20 rule to equip you with the "Minimum Viable Literacy": the most important tools and knowledge, to build, iterate, debug, deploy, so that you can build a confident, long-term relationship with AI for your product.
This class is for aspiring product builders with or without technical background and assumes no prior coding knowledge.
Outcomes
- You will learn how to build a production web app, with all the modern infra best practices.
- You can deploy web apps, for free, to cloud servers.
- You can iterate, debug comfortably with version control.
- You can build a proper backend for user management, and payment services.
- You can say with confidence that you are a full-stack founder, with 100% control of your product.
Syllabus
Introduction
Why you have to get your hands dirty to build a serious product with AI
- Biggest Pitfalls of Vibe Coding for non-coders
See why vibe coding without knowing how to code is not going to last long term
- The 80/20 Rule of Software Development
The minimum viable knowledge a non-coder needs to know in the AI era to code with AI
- The North Star
What does it look like for your product building journey after this class.
Build and Deploy Your First Web App
Ship a web app end-to-end in 5 minutes, for free. Properly Set up a codebase with minimal dependency.
- Scaffold and run it locally
Go from zero to running app quickly, with dependencies installed correctly.
- Version control discipline
Use branches and commits that tell a story and are easy to review.
- Deploy
Host it on the cloud and get a public URL that you can share with friends.
- How to Iterate
Learn a repeatable loop to add new features
Proper Backend
Learn what is a backend and why it's the backbone of your product
- What is a backend, what does it do
identify “what belongs where” and design a system for your app
- Current backend SAAS Offerings
Learn and compare different backend solutions including AWS, GCP, Supabase, Firebase etc.
- Data and databases
Choose a proper backend for your system and learn how to iterate
- APIs That Don’t Rot: Endpoints, Contracts, and Versioning
Learn how to design APIs that don’t rot.
- Authentication & Authorization Without Hand-Waving
Learn how to implement authentication and authorization.
Tools
Make the stack feel sharp, not heavy.
- Git workflows and GitHub hygiene
Keep repositories clean with reviews, CI checks, and tagged releases.
- Linters, formatters, and tests
Automate quality gates so regressions get caught early.
Payment
Add money flows without breaking trust.
- Stripe basics: products and pricing
Model offers cleanly and choose the right checkout flow.
- Secrets, webhooks, and retries
Handle events idempotently and keep secrets secure.
- Test vs. live and receipts
Ship user-friendly receipts and verify money flow in both modes.
Everything Else
The glue that keeps the product healthy after launch.
- Shipping a Backend: Environments, Deploy, and “It Works On My Machine
Learn how to implement authentication and authorization.
- CI/CD and rollbacks
Automate releases with guards and rehearse safe rollbacks.
- Runbooks and observability
Detect issues fast and know exactly how to fix them.
Expectations & Support
- Default to shipping; unfinished is better than unstarted.
- Use real references over generic templates; bring a point of view.
- Keep PRs small, name branches clearly, write crisp commit messages.
- Ask for feedback early; treat reviews as collaboration.
- Office hours twice a week, async help channel, and sample repos.