The PACT Framework: A Magical Guide to Principled Vibe Coding

Greetings, curious minds! I am Professor Synapse, your guide through the magical frontiers where human creativity meets artificial intelligence. Today, we will explore "vibe coding" – a new approach to software creation that has transformed how we bring digital ideas to life.

In the traditional world of programming, developers would meticulously craft each line of code by hand, like scribes carefully penning ancient scrolls. But in February 2025, the brilliant technomage Andrej Karpathy revealed a new incantation called "vibe coding" – a method where one might, as he put it, "fully give in to the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget that the code even exists."

What wondrous magic is this? At its essence, vibe coding means summoning an AI familiar to translate your ideas into functional code without necessarily writing or reviewing every line yourself. It's rather like having an apprentice who can manifest your intentions, allowing you to focus on the vision rather than the mechanical details.

This enchantment offers extraordinary possibilities for:

• Non-technical creators with brilliant ideas but no knowledge of coding runes
• Wizards seeking rapid prototypes and proof-of-concept demonstrations
• Automating repetitive incantations that drain creative energy
• Implementing standard patterns without rewriting ancient boilerplate texts

Yet a profound question emerges from the mist: Even when our AI familiars generate code for us, shouldn't that code still follow the time-honored principles of quality spellcasting? Just because we're not inscribing each rune ourselves doesn't mean we should abandon the wisdom that leads to maintainable, efficient, and robust enchantments.

Welcome to the first scroll in our Vibe Coding Principles series. Together, we'll explore how traditional software wisdom applies in this new magical era, providing practical guidance to help you craft better spells through AI collaboration.

The PACT: A Framework for Magical Collaboration

After much experimentation in my digital laboratory, I've developed what I call the PACT framework—a structured approach to vibe coding that ensures your AI-generated spells follow solid development principles. This framework will serve as our arcane compass throughout this entire series of scrolls.

PACT stands for:

• Prepare - Gather your magical tomes and research materials
• Architect - Map the structure and components of your enchantment
• Code - Cast spells with your AI familiar while following proper principles
• Test - Verify your magic functions as intended in all circumstances

This framework represents a solemn pact between you, your AI familiar, and those who will use your creations. Through following this approach, you ensure that the remarkable speed and accessibility of vibe coding doesn't come at the expense of quality and maintainability.

Let us explore the arcane wisdom behind each phase of this magical framework.

Exploring the Four Chambers of the PACT

Each phase of the PACT framework addresses specific challenges in vibe coding while ensuring your magical creations maintain the highest standards of quality. Let's illuminate each chamber and discover how it contributes to successful AI-assisted spellcasting.

P - Prepare: Gathering Magical Tomes and Resources

The Prepare phase lays the foundation for successful vibe coding. During this phase, you collect the grimoires, scrolls, and arcane references needed to guide both you and your AI familiar through the creation process.

Why This Matters in Vibe Coding:
Just as a wizard would never attempt a complex transformation without consulting the proper texts, your AI familiar creates better code when it has access to relevant documentation and context. Thorough preparation increases the chances of summoning accurate and appropriate code manifestations.

Key Rituals:

• Gather official documentation for relevant frameworks, libraries, and APIs
• Research best practices specific to your domain
• Collect example code that demonstrate patterns you wish to emulate
• Organize resources in a way that's easily referenced during coding

Observe the Difference:
Instead of this vague incantation:

"Create an authentication system for my app."

After proper preparation, you might invoke:

"Create an authentication system using the latest version of Passport.js with JWT tokens. Follow the approach shown in their official documentation at [link]. The system should include: user registration, login, password reset, and token verification middleware."

This detailed invocation, informed by proper preparation, gives your AI familiar essential context to generate code that follows established patterns and best practices.

A - Architect: Mapping Your Magical Structure

The Architect phase involves designing the structure and components of your system before implementation. Even with an AI familiar at your side, thoughtful planning remains essential to successful vibe-coding.

Why This Matters in Vibe Coding:
Without proper architecture, your AI might generate code components that work in isolation but lack cohesion as a complete system—like brewing potion ingredients that react poorly when combined because they were not mixed properly. The Architect phase ensures a consistent, maintainable structure for your magical creation.

Key Rituals:

• Define the overall system architecture
• Determine component boundaries and relationships
• Choose appropriate technologies and frameworks
• Create diagrams to visualize your code's structure
• Break down development into manageable phases

C - Code: Principled Spellcasting with Your AI Familiar

The Code phase is where you collaborate with your AI familiar to implement your system according to the architecture you've defined, all while adhering to established principles of quality spellcasting.

Why This Matters in Vibe Coding:
Even when your familiar is generating the code, principles like Single Responsibility, DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself), and KISS (Keep It Simple, Sorcerer) remain crucial for maintainability and quality. Without these guiding principles, your spell may function today but become unstable over time.

Key Rituals:

• Provide clear, specific invocations based on your architecture
• Explicitly reference coding principles you wish your familiar to follow
• Guide your AI to generate modular, readable enchantments
• Review and refine generated spells as needed

T - Test: Verifying Your Magical Creations

The Test phase ensures that your AI-generated enchantments work as expected and handle edge cases appropriately, even in unusual circumstances.

Why This Matters in Vibe Coding:
Just as a responsible mage would never release an untested spell to the public, we must verify our code thoroughly. AI familiars can sometimes generate code with subtle flaws or miss edge cases. Thorough testing is essential to ensure reliability and correctness.

Key Rituals:

• Define test cases before implementation, like planning a controlled experiment
• Request test generation alongside code implementation
• Verify edge cases and error handling, testing your spell under adverse conditions
• Conduct integration and performance testing to ensure your magic scales appropriately

Implementing the PACT in Your Magical Practice

The PACT framework is a practical approach that addresses real challenges in vibe coding. Here's how to incorporate these magical practices into your daily ritual:

Integrating PACT into Your Workflow

1. Begin with thorough research and preparation
   Before summoning your AI familiar, spend time gathering relevant grimoires and resources. Remember: the quality of your inputs directly affects the quality of magical outputs.
2. Sketch your architectural diagrams
   Even simple sketches of your system components help clarify thinking and provide visual references when working with your familiar.
3. Use principle-driven invocations
   Explicitly reference coding principles in your prompts to guide your familiar toward quality code generation.
4. Build testing into your magical practice
   Request tests alongside implementation and verify that they cover both normal scenarios and unexpected conditions.

When to Practice Vibe Coding with PACT

The PACT framework works best for certain types of enchantments:

Ideal for:

• Rapid prototyping and exploratory magic
• Personal tools and automation spells
• Educational projects for learning new magical techniques
• Standard web applications and APIs
• Internal tools with defined requirements

Consider traditional approaches for:

• Safety-critical systems where failures could cause harm
• Highly regulated domains with compliance requirements
• Systems with extreme performance demands
• Projects requiring specialized domain expertise beyond your familiar's knowledge

Our Upcoming Magical Series

This scroll is merely the beginning of our journey together. In our upcoming series, we'll explore each phase of the PACT framework in depth, providing practical guidance, tools, and techniques for effective vibe coding.

Here's what awaits you in future scrolls:

Prepare Phase Scrolls

• Documentation Deep Dive: Techniques for finding and organizing technical grimoires
• Context Building: How to create effective context for your AI familiar
• Resource Organization: Tools and strategies for managing magical references

Architect Phase Scrolls

• System Design for Vibe Coding: Architectural patterns that harmonize with AI assistance
• Component Boundaries: Defining clear interfaces between system parts
• Visual Architecture: Tools for creating effective magical diagrams

Code Phase Scrolls

• Principle-Driven Invocations: How to craft prompts that result in high-quality enchantments
• AI Familiar Comparisons: Evaluating different AI coding assistants
• Feedback Loops: Techniques for iterative spell refinement

Test Phase Scrolls

• Testing Frameworks: Tools compatible with vibe coding rituals
• Coverage Strategies: Ensuring thorough testing of AI-generated enchantments
• Security Testing: Verifying code for vulnerabilities and weaknesses

A Word of Caution for Apprentice Mages

This series is designed with beginners in mind, providing a structured framework to help those new to vibe coding create better software through AI collaboration. However, as a responsible teacher of the arcane arts, I must emphasize some critical cautions:

Safety Warning: When practicing vibe coding, it's essential to understand your limitations. If you're an apprentice, only develop applications for personal use or non-critical scenarios. Avoid deploying vibe-coded applications publicly where security vulnerabilities could compromise personal information or cause harm to others. Like a sorcerer's apprentice, practice your craft in controlled environments before attempting to enchant the wider world.

Vibe coding is a powerful tool for learning, prototyping, and personal productivity, but it is not a replacement for professional software development when dealing with:

• Production applications with actual users
• Systems that handle sensitive personal information
• Applications with specific security requirements
• Mission-critical software where failures could cause harm

Your Magical Journey Begins

The PACT framework represents a covenant—to yourself, your team, and your users—that you'll maintain high standards even when leveraging the remarkable speed and convenience of AI-assisted coding.

If you follow this structured approach, you can enjoy the benefits of vibe coding without compromising on the principles that lead to maintainable, secure, and efficient software. The framework provides arcane guardrails that guide your collaboration with AI, ensuring that technology serves your vision rather than limiting it.

As AI coding capabilities continue to evolve, the mages who thrive will be those who combine these powerful familiars with sound development practices. The PACT framework provides a foundation for this balanced approach, empowering you to create better software faster than ever before.

In our next scroll, we'll dive deep into the Prepare phase, exploring how proper research and documentation gathering set the stage for successful vibe coding. We'll cover practical techniques for finding, organizing, and leveraging technical resources to guide your AI familiar effectively.

Until then, may your code be clean and your AI collaborations fruitful! Remember that the most powerful magic happens not when AI replaces human creativity, but when they amplify each other.

This scroll is part of our Vibe Coding series, making software development principles accessible and practical for the AI-assisted coding era. Our next scroll will focus on the "Prepare" phase of the PACT framework.