Complete Vibe Coding Tutorial: Build a Full Stack App in 30 Min with AI | Matt Palmer
Build a map app to find kid friendly places nearby complete with API, database, and login
Dear subscribers,
Today, I want to share a new episode with Matt Palmer, Head of DevRel at Replit.
Matt showed me how to build an app to help busy parents find kid-friendly places nearby (playgrounds, hikes) in just 30 minutes using AI. We covered frontend, API, databases, authentication, security and more.
This is the complete vibe coding tutorial that you've been looking for.
Watch now on YouTube, Apple, and Spotify.
Matt and I talked about:
(00:00) The 3 core traits that make successful vibe coders
(02:32) Start with vibe PMing before vibe coding
(05:17) Don't just give AI text prompts, do this instead
(25:01) How Replit Agent debugs and tests for you
(28:15) You have to be comfortable with failure
(33:33) Adding login and databases with one magic prompt
(46:43) Where vibe coding is headed next
(48:28) Agency, curiosity, and courage: the vibe coder’s mindset
What is the right mindset for vibe coding?
Welcome Matt! Let's start with the basics. What’s the right mindset for vibe coding?
Vibe coding is using plain English to build apps instead of code. To be a good vibe coder, you need to have agency, curiosity, and courage.
Agency is being able to figure out how to make things work yourself.
Curiosity is being willing to learn from your vibe coding journey.
Courage is being willing to fail and start over without giving up.
A lot of people tell themselves "I'm bad at coding" and never try.
But I believe anybody can do what I'm doing. It just takes patience.
Building a family activity finder: From idea to deployment in 30 min
Ok, let’s build an app to help busy parents find kid-friendly places nearby like playgrounds, hikes, and more. What’s the first step?
I like to think like a PM first. To solve the user problem, the key features I need are:
Interactive map showing activity locations
Category filters for different activity types
Ability to save favorites and mark places as visited
Mobile-friendly design for parents on the go
That sounds right. Where can we find the map data?
This is where AI becomes your domain expert. I asked AI "help me understand this space" and discovered OpenStreetMap—an open-source location dataset.
Unless you're a maps expert, you wouldn't know about these resources. But with AI, you can become a domain expert quickly by asking the right questions.
Practical prompting strategies that actually work
What are your top prompting tips for vibe coding with AI?
Here are my top 5 prompting tips after teaching vibe coding for 100+ hours: