Reference
Vibe coding glossary
This glossary gives plain definitions for the terms used across this site's reference on vibe coding, from AI-specific vocabulary to the general software terms that come up alongside it. Entries are listed alphabetically, each with a short explanation, and some link through to the fuller page that covers the idea in depth.
A
Agent
- A software system designed to perform tasks autonomously by using an AI model to make decisions and interact with external tools. Read more in how vibe coding works.
Agentic coding
- A development approach where AI agents are granted the capability to read, write, and execute code within a project environment. Read more in how vibe coding works.
AI slop
- Poor-quality, repetitive, or inaccurate content and code automatically generated by AI models with minimal human oversight or intent. Read more in risks and limits.
API
- An Application Programming Interface: a set of rules that let two software applications communicate with each other.
Authentication
- The process of verifying the identity of a user or system attempting to access a software application.
B
Backend
- The server-side components of an application that handle business logic, data storage, and communication with the frontend.
C
Code review
- The systematic examination of source code by a human developer to identify errors, improve quality, or ensure consistency. Read more in best practices.
Commit
- A saved snapshot of changes to a set of files within a version control system. Read more in best practices.
Context window
- The total limit of tokens that an AI model can process as input and output during a single interaction. Read more in how vibe coding works.
D
Database
- An organised collection of structured information stored electronically for easy access, management, and updating.
Deployment
- The process of moving software from a development or staging environment to a live server for public or internal use. Read more in how vibe coding works.
Diff
- A textual representation of the differences between two versions of a file or codebase. Read more in best practices.
E
Environment variable
- A dynamic value used by a software application to adapt its configuration based on the system it is running in.
F
Fine-tuning
- The process of further training a pre-existing AI model on a smaller, specific dataset to specialise its performance.
Foundation model
- A large-scale model trained on a broad corpus of data that can be adapted for a wide variety of downstream tasks. Read more in how vibe coding works.
Framework
- A platform or collection of pre-written code used as a foundation to simplify the development of software applications.
Frontend
- The part of a software application that users see and interact with directly, in their browser or interface.
G
Guardrails
- Technical constraints or programmed logic applied to an AI model to prevent it from generating unsafe, undesired, or incorrect output. Read more in best practices.
H
Hallucination
- An instance where an AI model generates information or code that is incorrect, nonsensical, or unfaithful to the provided context. Read more in risks and limits.
I
IDE
- An Integrated Development Environment: a suite of tools for writing, debugging, and managing software code. Read more in the tool landscape.
Iteration
- The process of repeatedly refining and improving a project through cycles of prompting, review, and modification. Read more in best practices.
L
Licence
- A legal document that sets out the terms and conditions under which software can be used, modified, and shared.
LLM
- A Large Language Model, trained to process, understand, and generate human-like text from vast amounts of training data. Read more in how vibe coding works.
Low-code
- A development platform that reduces the need for manual coding by providing visual tools and pre-built components for common tasks. Read more in what is vibe coding.
M
MCP
- Model Context Protocol, a standard for connecting AI models to external data sources and development tools. Read more in the tool landscape.
Model
- A statistical system trained on large datasets to recognise patterns and predict what content should come next. Read more in how vibe coding works.
N
No-code
- A development approach that uses visual interfaces to build software without writing manual code. Read more in what is vibe coding.
O
Open source
- Software whose original source code is made freely available for others to view, modify, and distribute.
P
Preview
- A temporary, runnable version of an application used to evaluate changes before they are committed or deployed to a live environment. Read more in how vibe coding works.
Prompt
- A sequence of natural language or code given to an AI model to start a response or task. Read more in how vibe coding works.
Prompt engineering
- The process of refining what you give an AI model to improve the relevance, accuracy, or quality of its output. Read more in best practices.
Prompt injection
- A security vulnerability where malicious input manipulates an AI model into bypassing its intended instructions or safety filters. Read more in risks and limits.
R
RAG
- Retrieval-Augmented Generation: a technique that gives an AI model access to external data sources so its answers are grounded in specific, factual information.
Refactor
- To restructure existing code without changing its external behaviour, usually to improve maintainability or performance. Read more in best practices.
S
Scaffolding
- The initial, foundational code structure a tool generates automatically to provide a starting point for a project. Read more in what is vibe coding.
Secret
- Sensitive configuration information, such as an API key or password, that must be kept out of the codebase and version control. Read more in best practices.
SPA
- A Single-Page Application: a site that updates the page dynamically as you interact with it, rather than loading a new page from the server each time.
Static site
- A website whose content is pre-built as fixed files and served to the visitor with no server-side processing per request.
T
Technical debt
- The implied future cost of extra rework caused by choosing an easy or fast solution now instead of a better long-term one. Read more in risks and limits.
Token
- A unit of text, often a word or part of a word, that is the basic unit an AI model processes. Read more in how vibe coding works.
V
Version control
- A system that records changes to files over time, so a team can track history, collaborate, and revert to an earlier state. Read more in best practices.
Vibe coding
- The practice of building software by describing the desired outcome in natural language and letting an AI generate and iterate the code. Read more in what is vibe coding.
Common questions
- Is this glossary specific to vibe coding, or does it also cover general software terms?
- Both. It covers vibe coding terms such as agent and hallucination, alongside general software terms such as API and database that come up when discussing it.
- Why does it include basic software concepts rather than only AI-specific ones?
- Discussing vibe coding assumes a shared vocabulary for the technical environment around it, so terms like database or version control are included alongside the AI-specific ones.
- Are these definitions kept up to date?
- Yes. The glossary is maintained alongside the rest of this reference, so definitions are revisited as tools and practices change.
- What if a term I'm looking for isn't listed?
- Suggest it through the contact page. Terms that would genuinely help other readers get added.