Yes, You Can Vibe-Code. Here's How to Get Started: Creating your own programs might seem daunting. It's a lot easier than you think.

 

 

“Work is full of time-sucking, tedious or annoying tasks, particularly when you're on a computer. I used to spend hours on stupid chores like reorganizing someone else's messy spreadsheet.

 

Now, I use artificial intelligence to whip up programs that handle these tasks. What some people call "vibe coding" is a powerful way that AI can boost your efficiency and reduce work irritations.

 

You don't need any programming experience because AI will do all the programming for you, and even coach you through the process.

 

You can create a mini-program, known as a script, with a prompt as simple as, "Write a script that adds YYYY-MM-DD to the beginning of every file name in a folder, based on when it was created."

 

All you need to start vibe coding is a general-purpose AI platform like ChatGPT or Gemini. In a regular chat session, you tell the AI the problem you want to solve or the tool you need, and then it generates the code.

 

(More on what you actually do with that code later.)

 

Once you've created a script that solves your problem, you can use it anytime you need it.

 

You may have heard about tools designed for vibe coding, like Claude Code, which offer many more features and capabilities. But for most people, it's wiser to start with simple scripts you copy, save and run yourself.

 

Vibe coding can sound intimidating, but it's quickly becoming a common work tool for nonprogrammers -- just like image creation and document layout used to be the exclusive domain of designers, but is now something many people do for themselves.

 

Here are some examples of some simple tasks you can do to start vibe coding -- and then instructions on how to get going.

 

Sample tasks

 

-- Merge files. It used to take me a few days to get all my different receipts into a single file for my accountant. Then I used vibe coding to write a script that takes all the PDFs in one folder and makes them into one big document. I have used similar scripts to combine many emails into one reference file, or to take a whole bunch of short documents and combine them into one big draft (with subheadings based on each file name).

 

-- Extract information. Whenever I have to pull a small amount of information out of a huge file, I get AI to make a script. That's how I took a folder full of past emails and extracted the email addresses of each person who emails me regularly. I also did tasks like rolling through a Word document full of hyperlinks, converting each of them to a footnote. Again, it's as simple as typing: "Write a script that takes all the hyperlinks in this Word doc, and converts them to footnotes."

 

-- Clean and convert files. Do you have a bunch of PDFs that would be more useful as text files, or a text file that would be more useful to you as a spreadsheet? You can use vibe coding to write scripts that convert one file type to another.

 

-- Fix finicky images. When I'm posting images to my blog or Instagram, they often need to be a specific size; I used AI to write a script that resized a whole folder full of images so that they would have consistent dimensions when I posted them on my website.

 

-- Get rid of garbage. When I download a data file to my Mac, I often end up with a bunch of random garbage characters in the file; I used AI to write a little file-cleanup utility that fixes each downloaded file so that it opens nicely in Excel.

 

Tips to get started

 

Ready to get started? Here are a few strategies that will help:

 

-- Start small. You don't have to have a clear plan for how you want to try vibe coding. The next time you're annoyed with a repetitive or boring task, ask an AI whether and how vibe coding could help. Be sure to ask whether this is a simple script or something that will likely require more patience and skill.

 

Start with simple projects that have a high likelihood of quick success, like asking your AI for a script that can combine files or perform a simple calculation. It should be something where you can describe your problem and the desired solution for the AI in a sentence or two, using plain language, like, "Write a script that will convert a folder full of Word docs to PDFs."

 

The AI can walk you through what you need to do next, so you can actually get the script up and running.

 

-- Set up a coding "coach." Tell ChatGPT, Claude or another AI platform when and how you want it to help you write your own scripts. Explain your current level of tech knowledge: If you've never touched code or a script before, tell the AI you're starting from square one and it should explain every single step you need to take. Whenever it gives you an instruction you don't understand, say so; it will clarify.

 

-- Increase gradually. As you get familiar with how scripts and programs are structured, you can take on more-complex projects. That is when you can level up by trying a platform like Claude Code, which makes it faster to write, troubleshoot and run your scripts.

 

-- Protect your data, privacy and security. There is a risk that an AI could create and run a script that does something you don't want -- like harming files you care about, or compromising your privacy and security. You can ask the AI to flag any risks (and consider asking another AI for a second opinion), but it is always wise to back up your computer before you start a coding project, and to limit the AI's access to a single folder that you use only for your vibe-coding projects.

 

Does this sound a bit daunting? If so, that's yet another reason to give vibe coding a try. When you see how AI can help you learn and accomplish something that feels like it's beyond your knowledge and skill set, that doesn't just open the doors to writing your own programs: It opens the door to learning an ever-growing range of skills.

 

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Alexandra Samuel is a technology researcher and host of the AI podcast "Me + Viv." She can be reached at reports@wsj.com.” [1]

 

1. Workplace Technology (A Special Report) --- Yes, You Can Vibe-Code. Here's How to Get Started: Creating your own programs might seem daunting. It's a lot easier than you think. Samuel, Alexandra.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 20 Feb 2026: R1.