Prompts for Vibe Coders: A Practical Guide to Claude Code

You have heard about vibe coding. Maybe you have already tried it. You opened Claude Code, typed "build me a website," got something back, and thought: this is either magic or chaos, and I cannot tell which.

You are not alone. Thousands of non-technical founders, designers, and product people are using Claude Code to build real software right now. The ones getting great results are not better at coding — they are better at prompting. And that is a learnable skill.

This guide covers the prompts and setup patterns that we see working well for non-developers using Claude Code's desktop app. No terminal experience required.

Setting up Claude Code Desktop

Claude Code is available as a standalone desktop application for macOS, Windows, and Linux. If you are on a Claude Max, Pro, Team, or Enterprise plan, you already have access.

Once installed, you get a clean interface with three tabs at the top: Chat, Cowork, and Code. For most vibe coding, you will live in the Chat tab — it is where you describe what you want and Claude builds it.

Before you write a single prompt, though, there is one setup step that makes everything dramatically better.

The CLAUDE.md File: Your Most Important First Step

A CLAUDE.md file is a markdown file that Claude reads automatically at the start of every session. Think of it as a brief that tells Claude who you are, what you are building, and how you want it to work. Without one, Claude starts every conversation from scratch. With one, it already knows the context.

How to create one

In the Claude Code desktop app, type:

/init

Claude will scan your project folder (or create a new one if you are starting fresh) and generate a starter CLAUDE.md based on what it finds. You can then edit it to suit your needs.

If you are starting a brand new project with no existing files, you can simply ask Claude:

"Create a CLAUDE.md file for this project. I'm a non-technical founder building [describe your project]. I don't have a coding background, so please keep explanations simple and avoid asking me about technical implementation details — just make good decisions on my behalf."

What to put in it

Here is a template that works well for non-technical vibe coders:

# Project: [Your Project Name]

## About Me
I am not a developer. I am a [your role — founder, designer, marketer].
When explaining technical concepts, use plain language.
Make implementation decisions yourself rather than asking me about
technical specifics I won't understand.

## What We're Building
[2-3 sentences about your project, who it's for, and what it does]

## Technical Notes
Update this section yourself as you make technical decisions.
Record what framework, hosting, and major libraries you've chosen
so you remember across sessions.

## Style Preferences
- Keep the design clean and modern
- Use [your brand colours if you have them]
- British English throughout

The key line is that last instruction in the Technical Notes section: tell Claude to update the file itself. As Claude makes decisions about your tech stack, database, or architecture, it writes those decisions into the CLAUDE.md so they persist across sessions. Your project context builds up over time without you needing to understand or manage it.

Everyday Prompts That Actually Work

The biggest mistake new vibe coders make is being too vague. "Build me a website" gives Claude nothing to work with. Here are prompt patterns that consistently produce good results.

Starting a new project

"Create a landing page for my dog walking business in Manchester. The business is called WalkAbout. We offer daily walks, puppy socialisation, and holiday boarding. I need a hero section, services overview, pricing, testimonials section (use placeholder content), and a contact form. Make it mobile-responsive."

Notice the specificity: business name, location, services, page sections, and a functional requirement (mobile-responsive). More detail means fewer rounds of "no, not like that."

Building from reference sites

"Use the frontend design skill to create a marketing website for a SaaS product. Reference these sites for inspiration: [site 1 URL], [site 2 URL]. Match the general layout of [site 1] but use the colour palette from [site 2]. Ensure the hero section has a product screenshot mockup, three feature cards, a pricing table with two tiers, and a footer with newsletter signup."

Referencing real websites gives Claude concrete design direction. You are not asking it to guess your taste — you are showing it.

Iterating on what you have

"The hero section feels too cramped. Add more vertical padding, make the headline larger, and put more spacing between the headline and the subtext. Keep everything else the same."

Short, specific iteration prompts work much better than long ones. Change one or two things at a time so you can see the effect of each change.

Adding functionality

"Add a contact form that collects name, email, phone number, and a message. When submitted, send the data to [your email] using a free email service. Show a success message after submission. Validate that email and phone are in the correct format before allowing submission."

Fixing something that broke

"The navigation menu isn't showing on mobile. It should collapse into a hamburger menu on screens smaller than 768px. When tapped, it should slide in from the right. Don't change any of the desktop styling."

The constraint ("don't change any of the desktop styling") is important. Without it, Claude might helpfully refactor things you did not want touched.

Installing Skills for Better Results

Claude Code supports skills — specialised plugins that give Claude domain-specific knowledge. For vibe coders building websites, the most useful one is the Frontend Design skill.

The Frontend Design skill

This skill teaches Claude to produce distinctive, production-grade interfaces instead of generic-looking AI output. It focuses on strong typography, considered colour choices, and layouts that look like a designer made them.

To install it, ask Claude:

"Install the frontend design skill"

Or if you prefer to do it manually, you can download the skill file into your project's .claude/skills/ directory.

Once installed, Claude automatically applies these design principles whenever you ask it to build UI. You do not need to reference the skill in every prompt — it activates when relevant.

Other useful skills

SEO Audit — checks your pages for search engine optimisation issues
Copywriting — helps write compelling marketing copy for your pages

You can discover available skills by asking Claude:

"What skills are available to install?"

Prompt Patterns for Common Tasks

Here are ready-to-use prompts you can adapt for your own projects:

"Make it look professional"

"Review the current design and improve it. Focus on consistent spacing, a clear visual hierarchy, and a professional colour palette. Use a modern sans-serif font. Ensure all buttons have hover states and the overall feel is polished and trustworthy."

"Add a section"

"Add a 'How It Works' section between the hero and the pricing section. Use three steps with icons, each with a short title and one sentence of description. The steps are: 1) Book online, 2) We confirm within an hour, 3) Enjoy the service."

"Make it faster"

"Check the page load performance. Optimise any large images, remove unused CSS, and ensure the page scores above 90 on Lighthouse. Don't change any visual design."

"Prepare for launch"

"Review this site for launch readiness. Check for broken links, missing meta descriptions, missing alt text on images, and any placeholder content that needs replacing. Give me a list of everything that needs fixing before going live."

When the Prompts Get Hard

Here is the honest truth about vibe coding: the first 80% is remarkably easy. You can get a good-looking landing page, a basic web app, or a prototype up and running in an afternoon.

The last 20% is where things get difficult. Payment integration, user authentication, database design, security hardening, deployment configuration, SEO, accessibility, cross-browser testing — these are the areas where knowing what to ask for requires knowing what can go wrong. And that is a different skill entirely from knowing how to prompt.

This is the gap we see most often with the founders and product people who come to us. They have built something genuinely impressive with Claude Code. It works. It looks good. But they are not sure if it is ready — ready for real users, real payment details, real data.

Built something with AI that needs a professional review before launch? Our Vibe Code Review service is designed for exactly this situation. We audit AI-generated codebases for security vulnerabilities, code quality issues, and production readiness — then either give you a clear report or fix the problems ourselves. Book a review

Beyond the Prompts: When to Bring in Help

Vibe coding is powerful. It has genuinely changed who can build software. But there is a reason experienced developers still exist, and it is not because they are faster at typing.

The real value of professional development is not writing code — it is making hundreds of small decisions correctly. Which database suits your scale. How to structure your data so it does not fall apart at 10,000 users. Where the security boundaries are. How to deploy without downtime. How to recover when things go wrong at 2am.

If you are using Claude Code to build a prototype, a side project, or an internal tool — keep going. You are doing it right.

If you are building something that needs to handle real customers, real money, or real data — that is when the prompts stop being enough. Not because Claude is not capable, but because knowing the right questions to ask requires experience you have not had the chance to build yet.

Want to skip the guesswork? We work with non-technical founders every day to turn ideas into production-ready software. Whether you need us to review what you have already built, build your MVP from scratch, or create a high-converting marketing site — we handle the hard parts so you can focus on your business. Start a conversation

Key Takeaways

Set up a CLAUDE.md file first. It is the single highest-impact thing you can do. Tell Claude who you are, what you are building, and let it update the file with technical decisions as it goes.
Be specific in your prompts. Name the sections, describe the layout, reference real websites. The more context you provide, the better the output.
Install the Frontend Design skill. It noticeably improves the visual quality of everything Claude builds.
Iterate in small steps. Change one or two things per prompt. Review each change before moving on.
Know your limits. The first 80% is fun. The last 20% — security, scalability, production readiness — is where professional experience matters.