track: talking to it well

5 articles · newest first

Isometric illustration of a workshop pegboard holding hand tools arranged from a tiny screwdriver up to a large drill, a hand reaching to choose the right-sized one

Which model for which job: don't send a jumbo to fetch coffee

Lesson 5 of talking to it well: most AI tools let you pick a model, and the right choice saves you time and money. When a fast model is plenty, and when a slow, thinking one earns its keep.

Sam Ortega · 1h ago · 5 min

Realistic painterly illustration of a lone figure at a fork in a trail at dusk, one path overgrown and tangled, the other a clean fresh road ahead

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When to start over vs fix: stop patching a tangle

Lesson 4 of talking to it well: the vibe coder's trap is prompting patch-on-patch until the code is a knot. When a fresh spec beats a fifth fix, shown with a real before-and-after.

Sam Ortega · 1h ago · 5 min

Flat illustration of a calm person holding a large magnifying glass over a screen of code, one line gently highlighted

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How to read AI code without coding: three things to look for

Lesson 3 of talking to it well: you don't need to write code to vibe code, but you do need to read it. The AI says "I fixed the login", here's how to check what it actually changed.

Sam Ortega · 1h ago · 5 min

Isometric diorama of a small workbench where a draft page moves under a magnifying glass and comes out stamped with a green check, arrows looping back to the start

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The verify loop: the first answer is a draft, not a verdict

Lesson 2 of talking to it well: the habit that separates vibe coders who ship safe apps from those who ship bugs. Generate, then make the model attack its own answer, shown with a real before-and-after.

Sam Ortega · 1h ago · 5 min

Editorial infographic showing a vague scribbled sticky note on the left transformed by an arrow into a neat numbered specification checklist on the right

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Prompting is writing a spec: the words you add are the product

Lesson 1 of talking to it well: the single biggest upgrade to your vibe coding is treating a prompt as a spec. Watch the same request go from vague to specific to constrained, with the real outputs it produced.

Sam Ortega · 1h ago · 5 min