The 10 Commandments of AI Coding: How to Survive the Vibe Coding Era

We are currently living through the "Wild West" era of software development. Tools like Cursor, Claude Code or Antigravity have handed every developer a superpower: the ability to generate thousands of lines of code in minutes.

But with great power comes great... technical debt. If we aren't careful, we’re just building faster, messier monoliths.

To keep our codebases sane and our production environments un-exploded, we need a new code of ethics. A set of rules to live by when your pair programmer is a LLM.

Here are my 10 Commandments of AI Coding.

1. Thou Shalt Own Thy Commits

“If your name is on the commit, you are responsible and accountable for the code shipped.”

This is the Golden Rule. It doesn't matter if you typed it, copy-pasted it, or tab-completed it. When ⁠git blame points to you, it’s your reputation on the line. Never use "the AI wrote it" as an excuse for a bug, a security leak, or a performance regression. If you ship it, you own it.

2. Thou Shalt Not Code Without a Plan

“If you're making a new feature, always use Plan Mode.”

LLMs are excellent bricklayers but terrible architects. If you ask an AI to "build a dashboard," it will give you a dashboard made of straw. Before writing a single line of code, use "Plan Mode" (and better with a reasoning model) to draft a ⁠blueprint. Force the AI to outline the architecture, data flow, and edge cases before the implementation begins.

3. Thou Shalt Not Ship "Black Magic"

“If you cannot explain how the code works, you are not allowed to commit it.”

It is tempting to let the AI generate a complex Regular Expression or a 50-line recursive function that "just works." Do not fall into this trap. If you don't understand the logic, you cannot debug it when it breaks in production. If the AI writes something clever, ask it to explain it to you. If you still don't get it, ask for a simpler, dumber version. Never ship black boxes.

4. Thou Shalt Provide Context

“Never ask a specific question without attaching the relevant files and types.”

An AI without context is just a fancy autocomplete. You cannot expect quality output if you treat the chat like a basic Google search. To get production-ready code, you must actively feed the model the relevant files, types, and constraints. Stop asking generic questions; instead, explicitly ⁠reference your specific utility files, database schemas, and existing patterns before requesting a single line of code. If you hide the blueprints, the AI cannot build the house.

5. Thou Shalt Iterate in Small Batches

“Big prompts lead to big bugs; break your features into atomic, testable units.”

Do not paste a 500-line requirement document and ask for the finished product. That is a recipe for spaghetti code. Ask the AI to build the interface first. Then the data layer. Then the logic. Iterate step-by-step so you can catch drift before it becomes an avalanche.

6. Thou Shalt Enforce Standards via Rules

“Stop correcting the AI manually; hardcode your opinions into the repository.”

If you find yourself constantly correcting the AI’s style (e.g., "No, use arrow functions" or "Use Tailwind, not CSS modules"), you are failing this commandment. Create a skill. Hardcode your team's linting preferences, architectural patterns, and "forbidden libraries" directly into the repo. Make the AI play by your rules.

7. Thou Shalt Know When to Start Fresh

“If the AI fails to fix a bug twice in a row, close the chat and start over.”

LLMs suffer from "context poisoning." The longer a chat session goes on, especially after a few failed debugging attempts, the dumber the model gets. It starts paying more attention to its previous mistakes than your new instructions. Do not argue with a confused bot. A fresh session is the best debugger.

8. Thou Shalt Not Leak Secrets

“Treat every prompt like it’s public; never paste credentials into the chat.”

AI models love to hardcode API keys and credentials if you aren't watching. Never blindly accept code that involves authentication or external services without scanning it for secrets. Furthermore, be mindful of what you paste into the chat context. If it’s sensitive customer PII, keep it out of the prompt window.

9. Thou Shalt Refactor, Not Just Append

“AI is biased toward adding complexity; it is your job to enforce simplicity.”

AI tools are biased toward adding code, not deleting or simplifying it. This leads to bloat. Dedicate time to ask the AI to "Refactor this file for readability" or "Remove unused code." Use the tool to clean up the mess it helped create.

10. Thou Shalt Remain the Pilot

“Use AI to speed up your hands, not to replace your brain.”

The most dangerous developer is one who has forgotten how the underlying system works because they rely 100% on the AI. Use AI to speed up syntax, but do not outsource your critical thinking. You must understand why the code works. If the internet goes down and Cursor disconnects, you should still be able to write a loop.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, OpenAI and Anthropic don't get paged at 3:00 AM when your production crashes. You do. That is the fundamental difference between the generator and the engineer.

These commandments exist to protect you: your reputation, your sanity, and your weekends. Embrace the magic of AI, but never forget that it is a tool that requires a master's hand. Code with confidence, ship with pride, and never trust a robot that can't be fired.