Have you ever caught yourself manually tweaking AI-generated code? You know, that little voice that says 「I can just fix this one line real quick」? Welcome to code chiseling – the silent killer of Vibe Coding efficiency.
Code chiseling is what happens when we fall back into old programming habits. Instead of refining our prompts and intentions, we start manually editing the generated code. It feels productive in the moment, but it’s like using a toothpick to carve a statue when you have power tools available.
Remember the fourth principle from the Ten Principles of Vibe Coding? 「Do Not Manually Edit Code.」 We should treat current prompts as the code of the past, and current code as the executables of the past. Every time you manually edit code, you’re essentially breaking this fundamental rule.
Here’s the problem: when you chisel code, you create technical debt that AI can’t easily understand or maintain. The AI generated code based on your original intention, but your manual edits create a divergence between what the AI understands and what actually exists. It’s like giving someone directions but secretly changing the destination halfway through their journey.
I’ve seen teams spend hours 「optimizing」 AI-generated code, only to realize they could have achieved better results by simply refining their prompts. One team at a fintech startup I consulted with spent three days manually tuning performance in their AI-generated authentication module. When they finally went back and improved their prompt specifications, the AI generated code that was 40% faster than their hand-tuned version.
The real art lies in prompt refinement, not code editing. Instead of fixing syntax errors manually, ask the AI to regenerate with better error handling. Instead of optimizing loops by hand, specify your performance requirements upfront. This aligns perfectly with the principle that 「Code is Capability, Intentions and Interfaces are Long-term Assets.」
Think about it: your carefully crafted prompts become reusable assets that improve over time. Your manual code edits? They’re temporary fixes that disappear the next time the AI regenerates the code.
So next time you feel the urge to chisel, ask yourself: am I treating the symptom or the cause? Better yet, let the AI do the heavy lifting while you focus on what really matters – defining clear intentions and watching the magic happen.