Karpathy Coins Vibe Coding

In early February 2025, Andrej Karpathy coined the term “vibe coding” in a tweet.

The phrase describes a new, casually radical mode of software-making, where the user stops treating code as the primary object and starts treating the interface as the thing you steer.

With LLM-assisted tools (Cursor, voice dictation), the workflow transforms to conversational in natural language as opposed to coding languages. It’s also experimental and opportunistic: “decrease the padding,” accept the change, run it, paste the error, repeat.

The result is the extraordinary ability to direct outcomes with computers, as if they had their own intelligence and agency and weren’t only rigid machines executing explicit binary instructions.