The DuckSubs Guide to Vibecoding

From “I have an idea” to “I just made a sale”

You don’t need a computer science degree. You don’t need to understand algorithms. You need an idea, a laptop, and the willingness to talk to an AI until it builds the thing you’re imagining. This guide gets you from zero to publishing your first product on DuckSubs.

What Is Vibecoding?

Vibecoding is building software by describing what you want in plain language and letting an AI write the code. You say “make me a recipe app that saves my favorites and generates a grocery list” and the AI produces working code. You test it, tweak it, tell the AI what to fix, and iterate until it does what you want.

The term comes from Andrej Karpathy (one of the people who built the AI behind Tesla’s self-driving). His point: you don’t need to understand every line of code. You need to understand what you’re building, why, and for whom. The AI handles the syntax. You handle the vision.

The tools that make this possible — Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot — are improving fast. What took a senior developer a week to build in 2023, a motivated beginner can now build in an afternoon. That’s not hype. That’s what’s happening right now.

What You Need Before You Start

✓

A computer

Mac, Windows, or Linux. Doesn't need to be fancy. If it can run a web browser and a text editor, you're set.

✓

An internet connection

You'll be talking to AI tools that run in the cloud, and pushing code to GitHub.

✓

A free GitHub account

This is where your code lives. We'll set this up in step 1.

✓

Claude Code (or another AI coding tool)

Claude Code is a command-line tool from Anthropic. Cursor is an AI-powered editor. Either works. We'll cover Claude Code here because it's what DuckSubs is built with.

✓

A text editor

VS Code is free and what most people use. Download it from code.visualstudio.com.

✓

An idea

Something you wish existed. A tool that replaces a subscription you're tired of paying for. A utility that does one thing well. Start small.

Step 1: Set Up GitHub

GitHub is where your code lives. Think of it as Google Drive for software — it stores your files, tracks every change you make, and lets other people (or DuckSubs) access your project. Every developer in the world uses it.

Create an account

Go to github.com and click "Sign up." Use your real email — DuckSubs uses your GitHub account as your identity, so this becomes your seller profile.

Install Git on your computer

Git is the tool that connects your computer to GitHub. On Mac, open Terminal and type: git --version — if it's not installed, your Mac will offer to install it. On Windows, download Git from git-scm.com and run the installer (accept all the defaults).

Tell Git who you are

Open your terminal (Terminal on Mac, Git Bash on Windows) and run these two commands, replacing with your info:

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "your@email.com"

Set up authentication

GitHub needs to know it's really you when you push code. The easiest way: install the GitHub CLI. Go to cli.github.com, download it, then run: gh auth login — follow the prompts. It will open a browser window. Sign in, authorize, done.

Step 2: Start Your First Project

A “project” in code world is just a folder with your files in it. When that folder is tracked by Git, it’s called a “repository” (or “repo”). Here’s how to create one:

Create a folder

Open your terminal and run:

mkdir my-cool-app
cd my-cool-app

You just made a folder called "my-cool-app" and moved into it.

Initialize Git

Run: git init — this tells Git to start tracking changes in this folder. Nothing visible happens, but Git is now watching.

Start vibecoding

If you're using Claude Code, run: claude — this opens a conversation with Claude right in your terminal. Tell it what you want to build. Be specific: "Build me a web app that tracks my daily water intake. It should have a simple UI where I tap a button to log a glass, and it shows my daily total."

Test it

Claude Code will create files and tell you how to run the app (usually something like: npm run dev or python app.py). Open your browser, try it out. If something's wrong, tell Claude: "The button doesn't reset the count at midnight" — and it'll fix it.

Keep iterating

Vibecoding is a conversation. You describe, the AI builds, you test, you describe more. Don't try to get it perfect in one prompt. Build in layers. Get the basic thing working, then add features one at a time.

Step 3: Push Your Code to GitHub

Your code is on your computer. Now you need to put it on GitHub so DuckSubs (and your future customers) can access it.

Create a GitHub repo

The easiest way: run gh repo create my-cool-app --public --source=. --push — this creates a new repo on GitHub, connects it to your local folder, and pushes all your code up in one command. The "--public" flag makes it visible. Use "--private" if you want to restrict access.

Verify it worked

Go to github.com/yourusername/my-cool-app in your browser. You should see all your files.

Make changes and push again

Every time you make changes and want to update GitHub:

git add .
git commit -m "Added dark mode"
git push

That's the whole workflow. Add, commit, push. Every time.

Don’t overthink Git. For now, the only commands you need are: git add . (stage all changes), git commit -m “what I changed” (save a snapshot), and git push (upload to GitHub). That covers 90% of what you’ll do.

Step 4: Sell It on DuckSubs

Go to ducksubs.com and click "Sell" in the top nav. Sign in with your GitHub account — the same one you just set up.

Create a product

From your dashboard, click Products → Create Product. Fill in the name, description, price, and paste your GitHub repo URL as the source. Set what subscription your tool replaces (this is what makes DuckSubs listings compelling).

Set up your Booth

Go to the Booth tab and customize your storefront. Pick a theme, add a bio, connect your charity if you want the badge. This is your home page on DuckSubs — make it yours.

Publish

When your product and Booth are ready, publish your listing. Once your Stripe account is verified (DuckSubs will walk you through this), your buy button goes live and people can purchase your software.

Tips for Vibecoding Something People Will Buy

Not every vibecoded project is worth selling. Here’s how to think about what makes a good DuckSubs product:

Replace a subscription

The strongest DuckSubs products directly replace a monthly fee. "This $15 tool replaces a $9/month subscription" is a pitch that sells itself.

Do one thing well

Don't build Notion. Build a tool that does one specific thing Notion does, but better and without the subscription. Focused tools sell better than Swiss Army knives.

Make it work offline

Buy-once software should work without an internet connection whenever possible. If your app breaks when the WiFi is off, that's a subscription in disguise.

Write a good description

Your listing description matters. Explain what the tool does, what it replaces, and why someone should care — in plain language. Screenshots help enormously.

Price it fairly

Look at what subscription it replaces. If the alternative is $10/month, pricing yours at $20–30 is reasonable — the buyer breaks even in 2–3 months and owns it forever.

Ship something real, then improve

Don't spend six months vibecoding the perfect app. Ship something that works, get it on DuckSubs, and iterate based on what real users tell you.

Coder Words You Should Know

You don’t need to memorize these, but knowing them will make you sound less lost when reading docs, talking to other developers, or debugging with AI. This is the vocabulary that gets thrown around in coding conversations — what each term actually means, in normal language.

API

Application Programming Interface. A way for two pieces of software to talk to each other. When your app fetches weather data, it's calling a weather API.

Backend

The part of an app that runs on a server — handles data, logic, and database stuff. The user never sees it directly.

Branch

A parallel version of your code. You create a branch to work on a feature without messing up the main version. When it's ready, you merge it back.

Build

The process of turning your source code into something that can actually run. "Running a build" means compiling or packaging your app.

CLI

Command Line Interface. A text-based way to talk to your computer. Terminal on Mac, Command Prompt or Git Bash on Windows. Claude Code runs here.

Clone

Copying a GitHub repo to your computer. Run: git clone <url> and you get a local copy of someone else's project (or your own, on a different machine).

Commit

A saved snapshot of your code at a specific point in time. Like a save point in a video game. Each commit has a message describing what changed.

Component

A reusable chunk of UI. A button, a card, a navigation bar — each one is a component. Most modern apps are built by composing components together.

CSS

Cascading Style Sheets. The language that controls how a web page looks — colors, fonts, spacing, layout. HTML is the structure, CSS is the paint.

Database

Where your app stores data that needs to persist. User accounts, saved settings, purchase records — all live in a database.

Dependency

A library or package that your code relies on. Instead of writing everything from scratch, you install dependencies that other people already built.

Deploy

Putting your app on the internet so other people can use it. "I deployed to Vercel" means your app is now live at a public URL.

Environment variable

A secret value (like an API key or password) that your app needs but that you don't want in your code. Stored separately so they don't get pushed to GitHub.

Frontend

The part of an app that the user sees and interacts with — buttons, text, forms, animations. Runs in the browser.

Framework

A pre-built structure for building apps. React, Next.js, Django, Flask — these are frameworks. They give you a starting point so you don't build everything from scratch.

Git

The version control tool that tracks changes to your code. Not the same as GitHub — Git is the engine, GitHub is the website that hosts your Git repos.

GitHub

A website where developers store and share code. Your repos live here. DuckSubs uses your GitHub account for authentication.

HTML

HyperText Markup Language. The language that defines the structure of web pages — headings, paragraphs, images, links. Every website is HTML at its core.

IDE

Integrated Development Environment. A fancy text editor built for coding. VS Code is the most popular free one. Cursor is an AI-powered IDE.

JavaScript

The programming language that makes websites interactive. If a button does something when you click it, JavaScript is probably involved.

JSON

JavaScript Object Notation. A way to format data as text. Looks like { "name": "DuckSubs", "price": 15 }. APIs send and receive data in JSON.

Library

A collection of pre-written code that does something specific. Want to make charts? Install a chart library. Want to handle dates? There's a library for that.

Localhost

Your own computer, acting as a web server. When you run an app in development mode, it's usually at localhost:3000 — only you can see it.

Merge

Combining changes from one branch into another. "Merge this feature into main" means: take the work I did on this branch and make it part of the official version.

Node.js

A way to run JavaScript outside of a browser — on your computer or a server. Most modern web development tools run on Node.

npm

Node Package Manager. The tool you use to install JavaScript libraries. Run: npm install <package-name> to add a dependency to your project.

Package

Same as a library or dependency — a bundle of code someone else wrote that you can install and use. Packages are distributed through npm, pip, etc.

PR (Pull Request)

A formal proposal to merge code changes. On GitHub, you open a PR to say "here are my changes, please review and merge them." Common in team projects.

Push

Uploading your local commits to GitHub. Run: git push. Your code on GitHub is now up to date with your computer.

Python

A popular programming language known for being readable. Great for scripts, data work, and backend apps. A lot of AI tools are built with Python.

README

A file (usually README.md) in the root of your project that explains what the project is, how to install it, and how to use it. GitHub displays this on the repo's front page.

Repo (Repository)

A project folder tracked by Git. Contains your code, its history, and configuration. Every project you build gets its own repo.

Runtime

The environment that executes your code. Node.js is a JavaScript runtime. Python is both a language and a runtime. "What runtime are you using?" means "what's executing your code?"

Server

A computer that serves content to other computers over the internet. When someone visits your app, a server handles their request and sends back the page.

SSH key

A cryptographic key pair used to prove your identity. Some people use SSH keys instead of the GitHub CLI to authenticate with GitHub. Either works.

Terminal

The text-based interface to your computer. Where you type commands. Called Terminal on Mac, Command Prompt or PowerShell on Windows. This is where Git and Claude Code live.

TypeScript

JavaScript with extra safety checks. It catches bugs before you run the code by enforcing types (e.g., this variable must be a number, not a string). Most modern web apps use it.

URL

Uniform Resource Locator. A web address. ducksubs.com/tools is a URL. localhost:3000 is a URL. Your GitHub repo has a URL.

Version control

A system that tracks every change to your code over time. Git is version control. It lets you go back to any previous version, see who changed what, and work on features in parallel.

Vibecoding

Building software by describing what you want to an AI tool (like Claude Code) in natural language, rather than writing code manually. The AI generates the code; you guide the direction.

You’re ready.

You have a GitHub account. You know how to vibecode. You know how to push your code. Go build something and sell it.

Start selling What the Duck is DuckSubs?