SESSION 6 · ~120M
Build & iterate
The build session itself — spec to generate to test to fix, on a loop, with a prompt log so nothing is lost.
This is the build: two hours of looping through spec, generate, test, fix until your done-criteria pass. It will feel messy and iterative — that's normal and correct. The unit of progress is one passing criterion at a time, not a perfect first draft.
The build loop
- Generate — prompt for the next piece of the tool from your spec.
- Test — run it against a known case or done-criterion.
- Fix — if it fails, write a precise bug-report prompt and let the model repair.
- Commit — once a criterion passes, save that state before changing anything else.
Keep a prompt log. As you go, jot down the prompts that worked and the ones that didn't, with what you learned. This log is your future skill — the packaged procedure you'll reuse next time. Without it, every build starts from scratch; with it, each one stands on the last.
The generation effect is why this session matters most: things you build yourself stick roughly twice as well as things you watch. Two hours of building teaches more than twenty hours of tutorials — which is the whole premise of this course.
When you get stuck — and you will — describe the symptom precisely rather than flailing. 'The chart renders but the forecast line is flat' is a fixable prompt; 'it doesn't work' is not. Precision in bug reports is the meta-skill that makes vibe coding viable.
TRY IT
Execute the build loop on your capstone until at least one done-criterion passes. Log the prompt that worked and the prompt that didn't. That log entry is the first line of a reusable skill — capture it now while the lesson is fresh.
CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING
What is the 'generation effect' and why does it matter for this capstone?
What is the correct way to report a bug when vibe coding, according to the module?
Why does the module recommend keeping a prompt log during the build?
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