# Start (Vibe) Coding Fast With AI, anyone can code now. You can just tell the AI what you want to do and it will generally just do it perfectly! (Not always, but pretty often.) Now, the only limit is your imagination. Anyone can make something really cool in a couple hours, with no prerequisite knowledge. So how do you get started? --- The hardest part of coding is getting everything you need installed on your computer. Once you have that, you can basically use AI to do everything else for you. But what do you use? What do you need? There's honestly a lot. So I made a simple command you can run to get everything set up. **This guide only works on Macs**. (If you are on Windows, scroll to the [[#Windows users]] section.) First, open the terminal. Press `command + space` to open Spotlight, then type "terminal", then press enter. ![[CleanShot 2026-01-31 at [email protected]]] That will open a window that looks something like this: ![[CleanShot 2026-01-31 at [email protected]]] This is the terminal! Before the graphical user interface was invented, the "terminal" was the only way to use a computer! Regular people don't have much of a use for it anymore, but programmers still use the terminal regularly. Essentially, you type commands in the terminal and each command does a certain thing. What I've created is a command that will set you up with everything you need to start coding. Here it is! Copy and paste this into that terminal window, then press enter: ```bash curl -fsSL https://gist.githubusercontent.com/anchpop/e88727b31e988f315baa302087864c65/raw/93da50513b46d2bc97900b7bf354565c3d89a6d3/setup.sh -o /tmp/setup.sh && bash /tmp/setup.sh ``` **If the script asks for your password, you can type it and press enter. You won't see your password as you type it.** This will get you set up with everything you need. The first thing it will do is get you the "xcode developer tools". These tools are required to do any coding on a Mac. A pop up will appear from Apple asking you to accept a license. Once you do, it will download some stuff. The download will take a few minutes. (It may ask you to type in your password) While you wait, it's a good idea to make accounts on these sites: 1. [Github](https://github.com). Almost all programmers use this to save and share their work. You can put your work on github and then you won't have to worry about losing your projects if you get a new computer. 2. [Cloudflare](https://www.cloudflare.com/). When making a website, you need a service to host it for you. You can do that for free with cloudflare. 3. Of course you'll need an AI coding tool. There are two major options. 1. [Claude](https://claude.ai/) ($20/mo plan required.) This is my personal preference 2. [ChatGPT (Codex)](https://developers.openai.com/codex/pricing/) ($20/mo plan required.) Also great! That command will run in Terminal for a while. Once it's done, it will show some "next steps". ![[Screenshot 2026-02-01 at 12.42.53 AM.png]] The first "next step" it will show is one telling you to close Terminal. (This is because some changes the script makes are only applied to the next Terminal you open, rather than the current one.) Do so! Now we'll open **Ghostty**. Ghostty is just an alternative to the built-in Terminal that's faster and works better. Find it in your dock: ![[CleanShot 2026-01-31 at [email protected]]] A new terminal-looking window will open up: ![[CleanShot 2026-01-31 at [email protected]]] Then, run these commands to connect your computer to the services you just signed up for. 1. Type `gh auth login` (and press enter) to connect to GitHub. It will ask you a few questions. Just keep pressing enter until your browser opens, then log in there. If it asks for a code, use the one in your terminal. 2. Type `wrangler login` (and press enter) to connect to Cloudflare. Now you're ready to start vibe coding! ## How to Start 1. Open Ghostty (you might already have it open from the previous step.) 2. In Ghostty, type `cd ~/coding` (and hit enter) to go to your `coding` folder. Putting your projects in there will help you keep them organized. 1. `cd` stands for `change directory`. It is the most important terminal command to know! ### Claude Instructions Did you make a claude account? If so type `claude` and hit enter! If you made a ChatGPT account, type `codex` and press enter. That will open up your AI coding tool. First will ask you to set up light mode or dark mode. You probably want dark mode. Then it will ask you if you want to use "Claude account with subscription". Hit enter to do that. (That's generally the cheapest option.) Finally, it will ask you if you trust the files. You can say yes. **Then, all you have to do is tell claude what you want to do!** As you work, Claude will ask for permission to run commands. Saying yes is fine. ### ChatGPT (Codex) instructions Did you make a ChatGPT account? If so type `codex` and hit enter! That will open up your AI coding tool. It will ask you if you want to sign in with ChatGPT, hit enter to do that. (That's generally the cheapest option.) Finally, it will ask you if you trust the files. You can say yes. **Then, all you have to do is tell codex what you want to do!** As you work, Codex will ask for permission to run commands. Saying yes is fine. ### Get going! When programmers ask Claude or Codex to do something, they call that "prompting" it. Here is an example prompt to get started: ``` I want to make a game like 'among us'! ``` ``` Help me make a website for my friends to vote on where to go out to dinner! ``` ``` I want to make a quiz that tells people which one of the real housewives they're most like! I'll write the questions, but you make the site. ``` ``` I want to make a social network where people can comment on bills in congress! ``` All you have to do is ask. The setup script configured your AI tools with instructions tailored for beginners, so they should work well out of the box! ## Additional tips Here are some good terminal commands: 1. Change directory: `cd directory/goes/here` 2. Open the current folder in Visual Studio Code: `code .` Coding will almost always involve the terminal at some point, so it pays to know these two. If something goes wrong, it's fine to run the script multiple times, or ask an AI for help. --- ## What the script actually does (you can ignore this) Here's what the script will do. It will give you the essentials: - **Homebrew**: the Mac package manager, which lets you install other tools easily - **Git**: tracks changes to your code Tools for certain programming languages: - **Node.js**: runs JavaScript outside the browser - **pnpm**: installs JavaScript packages - **Rust**: a programming language (everyone will learn Rust eventually) **Apps:** - **VS Code**: a code editor - **Ghostty**: a terminal (way nicer than the default one) - **Claude Code**: AI coding assistant that runs in your terminal **CLI tools:** - **GitHub CLI**: connect to GitHub from the command line - **Wrangler**: deploy websites to Cloudflare - **jq**: for working with JSON The tool also configures a bunch of stuff so you don't have to: - Git set up with sane defaults - VS Code autosave enabled - Touch ID works for sudo commands - Finder shows file extensions and hidden files - Creates a `~/coding` folder for your projects - Starship prompt (makes your terminal look nice) - A claude.md that will tell claude how to best help you. - Adds ghostty to your dock This is all catered to give you the best possible experience. For example, having `gh` installed means that claude can help you create github repos. ## Windows users I don't have a Windows computer, so I can't easily write a Windows version. But I did create a windows version of the script. Just run this command **from an administrator terminal**: ``` irm https://gist.githubusercontent.com/anchpop/e88727b31e988f315baa302087864c65/raw/2e8ee6def9817b852ce9b49495c0750cf2f36440/setup.ps1 | iex ``` If you are a coder and reading this and want to help spread the love of vibe coding, please contact me to make a windows version of the guide.