The starting point
The comprehensive guide. From your first AI prompt to an invisible framework of expert-level habits — 20 chapters covering prompting, pair programming, system design, testing, security, cognitive workflows, and meta-methodology.
AI Developer Tools: A Practical Guide
The complete landscape of AI development tools — chat interfaces, editor integrations, CLI tools, and APIs. What to use, when to use it, and how to set up your stack.
Build a Full-Stack App with AI in a Weekend
Put the methodology into practice. Build and deploy Taskflow — a complete task management app with kanban board, auth, and drag-and-drop — in one weekend, AI-first. Every prompt, every decision, every review.
When AI Gets It Wrong: A Field Guide
An honest catalog of nine ways AI-generated code fails — with real examples, real fixes, and a practical checklist for catching every category of error before it ships.
The Senior Developer's Guide to Not Fighting AI
You've spent years building real expertise. AI feels like it cheapens all of that. This guide addresses eight specific resistances honestly — and shows a pragmatic path forward.
CLI-First AI Development
AI-assisted development from the terminal. Claude Code, Aider, shell patterns, tmux workflows, and automation scripts for developers who live in the command line.
Migrating a Legacy Codebase with AI
A five-phase approach to understanding, testing, and modernizing legacy code with AI. From comprehension through validation — one module at a time, never breaking what works.
AI-Assisted Dev with VS Code & Cursor
Practical setup and workflow guide for AI-assisted editors. Configuration, keyboard shortcuts, project rules files, and the editing habits that actually make you faster.
Prompt Engineering for TypeScript/React
Concrete prompts for TypeScript and React development. Type-first prompting, component patterns, state management, API routes, and a copy-paste prompt library.
Build a REST API from Spec to Deployment
Design, build, test, and deploy a complete bookmark manager API. From OpenAPI spec through Express, TypeScript, integration tests, Docker, and production deployment.
AI Prompt Library
50+ ready-to-use prompts for debugging, code review, testing, refactoring, documentation, security auditing, and more. Searchable, filterable, copy-paste ready.
Testing with AI
Write better tests faster. Unit tests, integration tests, TDD workflows, mocking patterns, and edge case generation — with real prompts for every scenario and framework.
You build by describing what you want, not by writing code line by line. These guides help you do it better — and know when you've hit the limits.
Vibe Coding: The Practical Guide
How to build real software by describing what you want to AI. Tools, techniques, common traps, and how to tell when something is actually working vs just looking like it works.
How to Start Building With AI
A step-by-step learning path from your first AI conversation to building real apps. No programming experience needed — just curiosity and something you want to build.
7 Vibe Coding Mistakes That Waste Your Time
The traps that turn a fun afternoon into hours of frustration. Real scenarios, practical fixes — from describing too much at once to going in circles instead of starting fresh.
A Day of Vibe Coding: Building a Real App
Follow along as we build a movie watchlist app in one afternoon. Every prompt, every revision, every bug — from first idea at 1 PM to working app at 4 PM.
Shorter reads on specific topics — ideas, perspectives, and practical takes on AI-assisted development.
How AI Programming Is Different From Traditional Development
Deterministic code vs probabilistic systems, writing rules vs providing data, and why debugging AI feels completely different. What changes when you move from traditional software to AI-assisted development.
How AI Models Are Trained: What's Actually Happening
The training process behind Claude, ChatGPT, and other AI tools — explained in plain language. Why AI hallucinates, why it writes outdated code, and why context improves results so dramatically.
Where Vibe Coding Is Actually Going
Everyone has predictions about AI and software development. Most are wrong in the same way. Here's what's actually changing, what's not, and who benefits most.
How AI APIs Work (And Why You're Already Using Them)
Every time you use Claude or ChatGPT, an API is doing the work behind the scenes. What's actually happening, how tokens and pricing work, and why this one concept explains the entire AI tool landscape.
How This Site Was Built: A Developer and AI, Start to Finish
The full story of building aiprogrammingmanual.com — one developer and Claude, over 6 weeks. What worked, what went wrong, and what I'd do differently.