The Ultimate Vibe Coding Checklist: Everything You Forget Until It's Too Late

If you’re building fast with AI tools like Lovable, Bolt, or Cursor, you already know the pattern: the app works… until you try launching it. Then suddenly there are broken prompts, missing security steps, weird API errors, and logic gaps that only appear when real users touch it.

This guide gives you the ultimate vibe coding checklist — the exact workflow that prevents these problems and helps you ship confidently, without slowing down.

Whether you’re on your first app or your tenth, this is the pre-launch checklist every builder wishes they had.

Why You Need a Vibe Coding Checklist (Even If Your App “Works” Now)

Vibe coding is fast — that’s the point. You generate components, wire APIs, fix errors, and iterate in minutes, not days. But shipping fast comes with predictable blind spots:

The most common issues vibe coders miss:

• Prompt inconsistencies that break silently
• Missing error handling around API calls
• Unbounded token usage that explodes your cost
• Security steps left out because “it worked locally”
• Deployment misconfigurations you don’t spot until users do
• API keys leaked in logs or prompts
• Logic paths that LLMs hallucinate through

These aren’t rare. They happen to everyone building fast.

That’s why a structured checklist matters: It’s not about slowing down — it’s about not getting blindsided at launch.

The Pre-Launch Checklist Every Vibe Coder Should Run

Below is the foundation. If you follow this list alone, you’ll avoid 80% of the issues that break AI apps in production.

1. Validate Every Prompt for Consistency

AI tools produce code quickly, but they also produce:

• ambiguous instructions
• missing guardrails
• flaky edge cases
• LLM hallucinations

Checklist:

• Rewrite prompts to be structured and deterministic
• Add system-level rules for tone, style, and forbidden responses
• Lock down user inputs
• Add tests for “risky” prompts (e.g., free-text, multi-step commands)

VibeCheck’s Prompt Optimizer helps with this using your own API key — your data stays local.

2. Seal All API Boundaries

Here’s where most first-time launches break.

Checklist:

• Add proper error handling for every API call
• Rate-limit requests
• Validate responses (never trust the model blindly)
• Log failures safely without exposing secrets
• Verify all environment variables load correctly per environment

3. Run Security Essentials

Not everything is a full “security audit,” but these checks prevent real user damage.

Checklist:

• Protect sensitive routes and admin features
• Confirm no API keys appear in code or prompts
• Sanitize all user inputs
• Add basic prompt injection guards
• Use schema validation for model output where possible

4. Verify Deployment Configuration

Your local setup is lying to you. Production behaves differently.

Checklist:

• Ensure custom domains and URLs are properly configured
• Confirm database connections
• Test cold start behavior
• Run through onboarding as a fresh user
• Confirm that all environment variables exist in production

5. Test the Real User Flow

Most vibe coded apps break on:

• onboarding
• account creation
• multi-step flows
• input formatting
• unexpected user behavior

Do a full pass as if you’ve never seen the app before.

The #1 Mistake Vibe Coders Make: Launching Without a Structured Review

You already know how common this is:

“It worked perfectly in Cursor… but the moment I deployed it, everything fell apart.”

Because vibe coding moves so fast, you often don’t realize what you missed.

A checklist prevents:

• embarrassing launch-day bugs
• broken prompts
• angry users
• expensive API bills
• “why is nothing working in production?” moments

And most importantly: it turns shipping from guesswork into a confident process.

How VibeCheck Helps You Run This Checklist Faster

You can run the entire checklist manually — but it’s slow, repetitive, and easy to overlook things.

VibeCheck gives you a structured workflow built for vibe coders:

• Pre-launch checklists tailored to your stack
• Clarity on what’s ready and what needs work
• A Launch Readiness score you can track
• BYOK tools like Prompt Optimizer & Crash Test
• No cloud uploads, no subscription, no friction

Everything is local. Everything is fast. It’s the easiest way to know you’re ready to ship.

Want the Full Pre-Launch Workflow?

If you're serious about shipping confidently — especially if you're using vibe coding tools daily — your next step is simple:

Download VibeCheck (Mac only) and run the full launch audit before you deploy.

It takes minutes, and it saves you from disaster.