Vibe-coding has become a game changer since I wrote about vibe-coding as a non-developer a couple of months ago. Since then, my coding activities have expanded exponentially so I figure it’s a good time to write about how my use of AI coding has evolved.
The Statistics.
Let me start by showing my activity records on GitHub and (local) Gitea since it will set the tone for the rest of the post. The short version: an explosion of activity from mid-March onwards.
Gitea:
Github:
With the help of AI I was able to set up a simple home network setup with two devices: one old X86 laptop and one Orange Pi 5. These two devices serve as a local backup storage and run a couple of helpful tools, including my local Gitea which I use to keep track of my code projects.
With the help of my brother I also set up a Tailscale net which means I can commit to my Gitea repositories from home, the office, or any coffee shop I happen to work at.
The Projects.
My coding projects fall into two categories: personal and professional. I can’t share every project I’ve worked on the past six months but here’s a good selection.
VoiceTask
I extensively use Asana to keep track of all my personal and professional tasks for the various companies and projects I’m involved with. It’s a great way to keep things organized when sitting behind the laptop but I struggle to add tasks if I’m on the road.
So, I vibe-coded an application that records my message, transcribes it, then sends it to my Asana inbox for that day. When I get back behind my laptop, I see the task, and can re-assign accordingly.
I’m at v29 already so there’s been quite a few bugs squashed over the past weeks. Early on I made the decision to create it as a progressive web app (PWA) which means the app now lives on my phone as an icon. The transcription is handled by the Orange Pi 5 with its 8-core Rockchip RK3588 and the service is exposed as a Tailscale funnel. And the whole thing was up and running in under 24 hours too!
Museum of Overclocking Records
I’ve been collecting information on the history of overclocking world records for years – first in my professional capacity at HWBOT, now in my hobby-capacity at SkatterBencher. While I was happy with the historical timelines I hosted on my blog (CPU, GPU, MEM), it always bothered me I couldn’t easily link assets and sources to the records. With the help of AI I was finally able to put together a custom interface for managing the information and publishing it on the internet.
Each record is stored in its own folder which contains a JSON file with record details and all related assets like pictures. Then, we deploy the website via GitHub pages. The deployment involves building the website assets, resizing the pictures ensuring ease of browsing, and calculating the timelines and a bunch of statistics.
I had never even heard of GitHub pages before AI suggested it’s a good way to host a website. And, now, I can’t imagine doing it any other way. What’s also helpful is the admin page I vibe-coded which provides a user interface to manage and add records.
BENCHLAB
BENCHLAB is a tool that provides a way to collect system telemetry for PC desktops. I’ve also been using it as a personal vibe-coding sandbox. There’s too many little things I’ve developed for BENCHLAB, so here’s a short summary:
- PyCore: python library that handles COM serial for the BENCHLAB device.
- PyTools: a number of small Python tools that facilitate interacting with the BENCHLAB in Windows, Linux, and with X86 and ARM devices. The tool list includes: restAPI server, a TUI, CSV logging, exporting to HWiNFO, communication with MQTT brokers, and displaying telemetry on the WigiDash and VU Dials.
- Windows Service: expanded the existing Windows service with multi-device support, added support for an upcoming variant (shht!), and added the ability to program the BENCHLAB device.
- ICue Widget: an iCue widget that displays BENCHLAB telemetry on the CORSAIR Xeneon Edge.
Microsoft Graph API
A project I can detail even less is the migration to Microsoft 365. The specifics aren’t important but what matters is that Microsoft provides a useful Graph API that enables interacting with its various applications.
With the help of some AI and vibe-coding effort, I was able to generate automatic reports and emails for internal Planners.
The Cost.
Probably the most important topic is cost of all this vibe-coding activity. Spoiler: the grand total comes out to about the price of a dinner out.
Yes, it’s true, since my last blog post I’ve started spending money on imaginary AI tokens. My total token expenditure so far is US$50 with OpenRouter and US$25 with Cline, though I still have about US$30 in credits left. Of the US$45 worth of tokens I spent, I embarrassingly admit about US$20 of that went to a single Claude Sonnet 4.6 “review this repo” request by leaving sub-agents enabled. That was an expensive mistake!
So, I’d say the token cost of all my vibe-coding projects was about US$25. That’s next to nothing compared to the value it generated for me. I often find myself repeating to folks it’s a crazy world we live in.
The Setup.
Before I sign off, let me quickly detail my current setup because it’s not at all what you’d expect.
My daily carry is an older Dell XPS laptop which I definitely need to swap out for a newer model sometime soon. I have switched to a real IDE, VS Code, which I now use for all my development efforts. The only plugin I use for vibe-coding is Cline and it has served me incredibly well.
Originally, I used the free models provided by Cline – my favorites being KAT-Coder-Pro V1 and Qwen3-coder – but after a while I found the service to disconnect too often. That’s when I signed up at OpenRouter. But lately I’ve found myself back at Cline and paying for KAT-Coder-Pro V2 which gives me satisfactory results.
The Workflow.
Now, to kick off a project I actually often turn to Claude.ai because it’s exceptional at providing no nonsense, multi-file initial drafts of a project, and because it’s free. As long as the project’s not too convoluted, you can use it for long enough to build something that works, then port it over to VS Code to further build it out with Cline.
Often, I’ll also go to Claude when there’s a nasty bug I can’t seem to get rid of. More often than not, Claude finds the solution.
I used to rely on ChatGPT a lot. I still try it once in a while but I find it to produce too much fluff and emojis. For example, I would ask it to find a bug and then it would give me a solution … followed by “but here’s a better way”. It’s a waste of tokens and a waste of my time.
The Summary.
There’s no other way to put it: vibe-coding is a game changer for me. I can get computers to work for me at near-zero cost.
That may be a bit of an exaggeration but it’s how I feel about this new world of AI vibe-coding. Of course, I’ve had computers work for me for many years since every software lets me do something but this feels different.
It’s probably because the time to a personalized solution is much shorter. Yes, there are probably software tools I could use to get my voice message ported into Asana but these would require configuration and might not do exactly what I want or work how I want. But with vibe-coding, I skip the configuration entirely and get something tailored to my workflow.
And, of course, there are tools out there that let you operate a digital museum. But they need me to adjust my workflow to their interface. With a little vibe-coding effort and a couple of bucks spent on tokens, I was able to make a system that’s catered to my very specific needs (and niche).
And, of course, I could read through the Graph API and figure out how to get a task added to the Planner. But it’s just so much faster to write:
review @/documentation\plannerApi.md. I want to build a tool using the same credentials that enables me to create a new task in a planner.and wait a couple of minutes until my script is ready.
Truth be told: I’ve produced a lot of code but I still don’t consider myself a software developer. So, my experience as a non-developer may not reflect how AI and vibe-coding is changing the world of software development. To learn more about that I recommend reading through Jared’s blog posts.
But if you’re a non-developer sitting on a problem that’s been nagging at you for years, my advice is simple: just start. The barrier has never been lower and the value never been higher.