Side Projects in the Age of Vibe Coding

You know that feeling when you have a brilliant idea for a side project but absolutely zero time to actually build it

Between work meetings family obligations and just trying to maintain some semblance of a social life your creative ambitions often get pushed to the someday pile

I used to have notebooks full of app ideas that never saw the light of day because coding them would have required evenings and weekends I simply didn’t have

Then something shifted

Vibe coding changed everything for busy people like us

Remember when building software meant spending hours debugging syntax errors and wrestling with frameworks

Those days are fading fast

Now I can describe what I want in plain English and watch as AI assembles working code from my intentions

It feels like magic but it’s really just a fundamental shift in how we approach creation

Last month I built a personal finance tracker during my morning coffee breaks

Not by writing code line by line but by having conversations with AI about what I needed

I described the features I wanted how the data should flow between them and what the interface should feel like

The AI handled the implementation details while I focused on the vision

This aligns perfectly with the principle that code is capability while intentions and interfaces are long-term assets

The actual code becomes almost disposable something that can be regenerated or improved at any time

What matters are the clear prompts and specifications that define what we’re trying to achieve

Think about your own side project ideas

What if you could prototype them in hours instead of months

What if you could iterate based on real user feedback rather than getting stuck in endless development cycles

Vibe coding makes this possible even for those of us with packed schedules

The key is treating your ideas as systems of capabilities rather than collections of code

Focus on defining what each component should do not how it should do it

Let AI handle the implementation while you maintain creative control

This approach transforms side projects from overwhelming commitments into manageable creative outlets

You’re no longer building alone either

The principle that everyone programs with professional governance means that soon even non-technical collaborators can contribute meaningfully

Your business partner can describe user workflows

Your designer can specify interface behaviors

And AI assembles everything into a cohesive system

This collaborative aspect is particularly powerful for side projects where you might be working with friends who have different skill sets

The verification and observation principles become crucial here

Since you’re not manually writing every line you need robust testing and monitoring to ensure everything works as intended

But this is a small price to pay for the ability to bring ideas to life so quickly

I’ve noticed something interesting happening

My side projects are becoming more ambitious

Instead of limiting myself to what I can build alone in my limited free time I’m thinking bigger

Complex applications that would have seemed impossible six months ago are now within reach

This isn’t about replacing human creativity

It’s about amplifying it

You still need the vision the understanding of what users need and the ability to make judgment calls

But now you can express that vision directly without getting bogged down in implementation details

The assembly happens automatically while you focus on what really matters

So what’s that side project you’ve been putting off

Maybe it’s time to stop thinking about coding it and start thinking about describing it

Your busy schedule might not be the barrier it once was