6 months. 3 rage-uninstalls. A dozen melted repos.
I’ve shipped multiple AI-built products solo—web apps all vibe-coded. No hype, no “prompt packs.” Just hard lessons after wasting hundreds of hours.
Here’s what works (and what doesn’t):
- Start like a PM, not a prompt monkey Write a real PRD (
product.md)
before touching code. AI loses context fast—this is your compass.
- Git or die trying Cursor will break something. Use version control
like your life depends on it (it does).
- Short, scoped chats > monolith threads new chat per task. Always
lead with: “Fix X only. Don’t change anything else.”
- Clean your house weekly AI thrives in tidy codebases. Delete temp
files, refactor ruthlessly.
- You’re the captain, not the passenger Cursor’s a co-pilot—not your
intern. Use .cursorrules, git checkpoints, and your brain for
system thinking.
No upsell. Just caffeine and hard-won truths.
P.S. If you want more like this, I write raw, unfiltered dev diaries on Substack. No fluff, just shipping.