Openai/692ad5f8-1fbc-8002-bc75-245a4b2194e9
This conversation was exported from ChatGPT[1]
gpt-5-1-thinking edit
User: Wow what this technology has become is so empowering and insane. edit
Wow what this technology has become is so empowering and insane. I started using AI to code in August 2025 I started on cursor with chat gpt and claude. i dont really know anything about programming like 12 years ago when i was 16 i messed around with html css and php a little bit and even made some money online as kid on sites like DigitalPoint.com. I really like coding but found it difficult to self teach at that each i got a lot of fundamentals down and learned how to manage mysql database. My life went a different way and I never got back into coding and when i was interested again in the last few years i have found it difficult to even see where to start it seems that coding has gotten so much more complex that i can ever remember it being. But back in August I heard about vibe coding so I got a cursor Subscription and threw in some ideas. and it created some neat stuff. and then i started working on tools for my job to make my and my coworkers life easier and use less paper to keep track of things. I created some pretty simple tools at first using cursor and i wasted a lot of time having the ai make things then i would upload via ftp to test and then find errors and give the errors to the ai and it would adjust and process and repeat. now one thing is i understand just enough to sit there and watch and read what the AI does and i can read pretty fast so a lot of times I could catch and understand when it was hallucinating or falling into error loops. but over time I thought there had to be a better way. then i learned about dockers and now I have my site running on local host for testing and online for production. this was great.
I eventually realized that cursor was not the way to go and I switched to a claude subscription and learn how to setup gitbash and use claude in the terminal in vscode. this was awesome and Claude has been the best since I mostly just used sonnet like 98% of the time. I found Opus 4.1 to be too much for me at the time it would spin up spec sheets so long i would get overwhelmed. This entire time i still just use Claude very basically over the next few in the terminal i build out several tools (lots of spaghetti code) but i do slowly learn a lot of new tequniques over time. and i learn to prompt egineer much more consicely and effeciently. Over time I learned how to use ssh and had it create batch scripts to deploy a staging version of my site for testing and another batch script to deploy to production. which made things so much eaiser. so now claude could edit with me in local host and i can test on staging and then deploy to produciton. this workflow has been awesome. Since August Ive Built 14 Tools for my salvage yard job and 5 of them are used in daily operations now by 10+ users. I know the codebase is weak but it has been amazing to see what this tool can do and even though some of my ideas have been extremely in depth and convuluted at times the ai has still managed to implement every feature albeit took a long time and my process wasnt effecient. Now with Opus 4.5 and my learning about MCP dev tools.. this has taken what I can do in weeks to days.... The next level upgrades that they packed into this thing are out of this world. With everything ive learned over time as a vibe coder and using Opus 4.5 I was able to rebuild a tool that i already made 2 attempts on previously with sonnet 4.5 and spent several wasted days in frustration but with Opus 4.5, A very long detailed prompt, and MCP Dev tools. The ai was able to rebuild and resolve one of the tools less than a 5 hour session. I was so impressed. Now I got an idea from my wife to work on another project and I just also learned how to instruct claude to create a detailed spec doc that the ai can create sub task agents to perform multi tasks along the spec together to create a non spaggehti codebase. I spent an hour going back and fourth for the entire concept asking it for recommendations, and to ask qestions for clarity on the entire core conectp and workflow. we talked through everything including security, cookies, session management, workflow, design specifications, usage details then i told the AI to make a spec doc of everything we talked about comprehesnsively but i have learned that it will run out of conext doing this so i told it to break it down in sections and create an index that makes sense so we can have task agents create the entire app from the ground up together effeicently. it did this and we utilized this technique and claude was able to build the entire app from the ground up even the entire core structure in 1 shot it took about an hour or so but it just kept delegating task to new sub agents and didnt need to auto compact. now when it was done it did not work at all. there was several errors but with MCP dev tools the ai was able to systematically discover similiar issues and assign task agents to make sure the spec doc was followed properly and find issues and fix them after a couple more hours the entire site was working and i since added several feature and adjust the ui significantly. This Ai thing is the craziest thing i have experienced in my life I am so addicted to vibe coding i find it so fascinating that it can build all these incredible things. I cant even imagine what you people who truly understand programming can do with this stuff if you learn to utilize it to its full potential theres probably so much more that i can do to make this process even better an easier but even my methods have become super efffecient and the codebases are becoming cleaner even for someone like me who has a very basic understanding and is just a vibe coder. The tool i built with my wife was supposed to be just a simple web app for us to create list of people for a christmas list that we could add items to and compare the prices at different places then decide later but it turned into a multi-tenatnt gift idea helper tool to keep track of the various stages of find gifts for people and keeping track of it all and your budgeted amounts for events and people. I am excited to see whats to come.
How can i clean up this long message without making it sound like an ai wrote it and keeping it feeling human and natural and full of emotiion like it currently is. I jsut want to polish it so it clean and easy to understand and read what are your thoughts and suggestions for improvement
Assistant: You can keep all the emotion and “human” vibe by doing three things: 1 cut repetition, 2 group the story into clear pha… edit
You can keep all the emotion and “human” vibe by doing three things: (1) cut repetition, (2) group the story into clear phases, and (3) keep your voice (short punchy lines, a couple “wtf/how is this real” moments), but remove the extra side-quests.
Here are practical suggestions, then a polished version you can paste.
- Open with the punchline first: “AI got me coding again after 12 years…and now my job uses tools I built.” Then explain how. edit
- Turn the timeline into chapters: “Backstory → First attempts → Workflow upgrade → Big leap (Opus/MCP) → What I’m building now.”
- Delete loops: You say “this was awesome” / “so impressed” many times—keep two of those moments, not ten.
- Keep specifics that prove it’s real: “14 tools, 5 used daily by 10+ users” is gold. “FTP → Docker → VS Code terminal → scripts deploy staging/prod” is also great.
- Fix wording lightly: “multi-tenant”, “Docker”, “spec doc”, “context window”. Don’t over-correct into corporate-speak.
I started using AI to code in August 2025, and honestly it’s one of the most empowering (and insane) things I’ve experienced. edit
About 12 years ago—when I was ~16—I messed around with HTML/CSS/PHP, even made a little money online (DigitalPoint days). I picked up some fundamentals and learned my way around MySQL, but life went a different direction. When I tried to get back into coding later, everything felt so much more complex that I didn’t even know where to start.
Then I heard about “vibe coding.” I bought a Cursor subscription and started throwing ideas at it. It actually built some cool stuff, and I shifted into making small tools for my salvage yard job—trying to save time and cut down on paper.
At first my workflow was brutal: I’d generate code, upload via FTP, find bugs, paste errors back into AI…repeat. But I learned just enough to watch what the AI was doing and catch when it was hallucinating or stuck in an error loop.
The big breakthrough was learning Docker and running my site locally for testing, while keeping production online. That alone leveled me up.
Eventually I switched from Cursor to a Claude subscription and learned how to run Claude in the VS Code terminal using Git Bash. That was the real turning point for me. I mostly used Sonnet because it matched my pace—Opus felt like it could generate a whole novel of a spec doc and I’d get overwhelmed.
Over time I leveled up my workflow again: I learned SSH, and I had it help me build simple scripts to deploy to staging and then production. Now I can build locally, test on staging, and push to production without the constant manual chaos.
Since August, I’ve built 14 tools for my yard. Five are used in daily operations by 10+ users. I know the codebase isn’t perfect (there’s definitely spaghetti in there), but seeing real people use something I made—at work, every day—has been wild.
And now with Opus 4.5 + MCP dev tools, it’s like the speed jumped another full generation. I rebuilt a tool that I previously failed at twice—and this time it came together in under a five-hour session. That blew my mind.
My wife also gave me an idea for a “simple” Christmas list app…which naturally turned into a multi-tenant gift planner with stages, budgets, tracking, and all that. I tried a new approach: I spent an hour talking through the concept with the AI—workflow, security, sessions/cookies, design, edge cases—then had it produce a structured spec doc in sections with an index. From there, it delegated tasks to sub-agents and built the whole app from scratch.
The first pass didn’t fully work (lots of errors), but with MCP dev tools it systematically found issues, assigned fixes, and brought it into shape. After a couple more hours it was running, and I’ve been improving features and UI since.
This whole thing has made me genuinely addicted to building. It feels like I got access to a superpower I didn’t have before—and I can’t even imagine what someone with deep programming experience can do with this if they really master it.
I’m excited to see what comes next.
If you want, I can also give you:
- a short “social post” version (200–300 words),
- a LinkedIn-ish version (more structured, less “holy crap”),
- and a super raw version (keeps more slang + intensity, just trimmed).
User: theres em dashes and other small indicators of ai written content in your version edit
theres em dashes and other small indicators of ai written content in your version
Assistant: Totally fair — those little typography “tells” —, very even cadence, polished transitions can scream AI. edit
Totally fair — those little typography “tells” (—, very even cadence, polished transitions) can scream AI. Here’s a version that avoids em dashes, keeps some rough edges, and reads like a real person typing a real story.
I started using AI to code in August 2025 and it’s honestly one of the most empowering and crazy things I’ve experienced. edit
When I was about 16 (like 12 years ago) I messed around with HTML, CSS, and a little PHP. I even made some money online as a kid on forums like DigitalPoint. I learned some fundamentals and got comfortable with MySQL, but life went a different direction and I didn’t stay with coding. When I tried getting back into it more recently, it felt like everything got way more complex and I didn’t even know where to start.
Then I heard about “vibe coding.” I paid for Cursor and started throwing ideas at it just to see what would happen, and it actually made some pretty cool stuff. That turned into me building little tools for my salvage yard job to make my life (and coworkers’ lives) easier and cut down on paper.
At first my process was rough. I’d have the AI build something, upload it with FTP to test, find errors, paste the errors back, and do that over and over. I do understand just enough to follow what the AI is doing, and I read fast, so a lot of the time I could catch when it was hallucinating or stuck in a weird loop. But I knew there had to be a better workflow.
Learning Docker changed everything. Once I got my site running locally for testing, while still having staging/production online, it got way easier to move fast without breaking everything.
Later I realized Cursor wasn’t the best fit for me, so I switched to Claude. I learned how to run Claude in the VS Code terminal using Git Bash and that was a huge upgrade. I used Sonnet almost all the time because it matched my pace. Opus was powerful but it could create spec docs so long that I’d get overwhelmed.
Over time I learned SSH too, and had the AI help me build simple scripts to deploy to staging and another to deploy to production. Now I can build locally, test on staging, and deploy without digging through folders and doing everything manually. That workflow has been awesome.
Since August I’ve built 14 tools for my salvage yard job. Five of them are actually used in daily operations now by more than 10 users. I know the codebase isn’t perfect and there’s definitely spaghetti code in places, but seeing people use things I made in real life is still kind of unreal.
Now with Opus 4.5 and MCP dev tools, it feels like what used to take me weeks can happen in days. I rebuilt a tool that I previously struggled with (multiple attempts, lots of frustration) and this time it got rebuilt and working in under a 5 hour session. That genuinely shocked me.
My wife gave me an idea that was supposed to be a simple Christmas list web app. Just a clean way to list people, add gift ideas, compare prices at different stores, and decide later. Of course it turned into a multi-tenant gift planner with stages, budgets, tracking, and a bunch of extra features.
I also learned a new approach that helped a lot. Instead of just asking the AI to start coding, I spent time talking through the full concept first. Workflow, login/security, sessions/cookies, UX, edge cases, all of it. Then I had it write a spec doc in sections with an index, so it could delegate pieces to sub-agents and build it more cleanly instead of one giant spaghetti blob.
It built the whole thing in one shot, but at first it didn’t work and there were errors everywhere. The difference was that with MCP dev tools, it could actually verify stuff, find patterns, assign fixes, and bring it into shape without me guessing. After a couple more hours it was working, and I’ve been improving it since.
This AI stuff is honestly the wildest tech shift I’ve seen in my life. I’m kind of addicted to building now. And I can’t even imagine what someone who really understands software can do with these tools if they use them at full power.
I’m really excited to see what’s next.
- Prefer short sentences mixed with a few longer “ramble” sentences. edit
- Keep a couple imperfect phrases (like “kind of unreal” or “of course it turned into…”).
- Avoid super formal transitions like “Ultimately” / “Moreover” / “This demonstrates”.
- Use parentheses sometimes, but not constantly.
- Do not over-summarize. Leave a little mess.
If you want, I can also make a tighter version that’s half the length but still feels like you wrote it.
User: it feels a bit of to many periods for my style of writing. edit
it feels a bit of to many periods for my style of writing. i do write a bit of run on sentances but i like that not to crazy but a few less periods
Assistant: Got you. edit
Got you. Here’s a version that keeps your run-on vibe (without turning into chaos), uses more commas and “and/but”, and just feels more like someone talking than “perfect writing”.
Polished but still your style (fewer periods, more flow) edit
I started using AI to code in August 2025 and it’s honestly one of the most empowering and insane things I’ve experienced.
When I was about 16 (like 12 years ago) I messed around with HTML, CSS, and a little PHP, and I even made some money online as a kid on sites like DigitalPoint, I got a lot of the fundamentals down and learned how to manage a MySQL database, but my life went a different direction and I never really got back into coding.
Then in the last few years when I started getting interested again, it felt like everything had gotten so much more complex than I remembered, like not even “hard”, more like “where do I even start”, and then I heard about vibe coding and I grabbed a Cursor subscription and started throwing ideas at it just to see what would happen.
It actually made some neat stuff, and I ended up building tools for my salvage yard job to make my life and my coworkers’ lives easier and to use less paper, the early tools were simple but I wasted a lot of time with a rough workflow where the AI would build something, I’d upload it by FTP to test, I’d find errors, paste the errors back to the AI, and repeat, but I understood just enough to sit there and watch what it was doing, and because I read fast I could usually catch when it was hallucinating or getting stuck in an error loop.
Eventually I realized there had to be a better way, then I learned about Docker and got my site running locally for testing while keeping staging and production online, and that alone was a huge upgrade.
After that I realized Cursor wasn’t really the best fit for me, so I switched to Claude and learned how to run it in the VS Code terminal with Git Bash, and that was a big turning point, I used Sonnet almost all the time because it matched my pace, Opus was powerful but it could generate specs so long that I’d get overwhelmed.
Over time I learned SSH too, and I had it help me create simple deploy scripts, one for staging and one for production, so now Claude can help me build locally, I can test on staging, then deploy to production without digging through directories and doing everything manually, and that workflow has been awesome.
Since August I’ve built 14 tools for my yard, and five of them are used in daily operations by 10+ users, I know the codebase isn’t perfect and there’s definitely spaghetti in places, but seeing real people use stuff I built at work is still kind of unreal.
Now with Opus 4.5 and MCP dev tools it feels like what used to take me weeks can happen in days, I rebuilt a tool that I had already attempted twice before and got nowhere but this time it came together in under a 5 hour session, and I was honestly blown away.
My wife gave me an idea that was supposed to be a simple Christmas list web app, just a clean way for us to list people, add gift ideas, compare prices at different places, and decide later, but it turned into a multi-tenant gift planner that tracks stages, budgets, and all the other stuff that happens in real life when you’re actually trying to buy gifts and not forget what you already found.
I also learned a new approach that made a big difference, instead of just telling the AI “build the app”, I spent time going back and forth on the whole concept, workflow, login/security, sessions/cookies, design details, edge cases, then I had it write a spec doc in sections with an index so it could delegate pieces to sub-agents and build the app in a cleaner way instead of one massive spaghetti blob.
The first pass built everything but it didn’t work right away and there were errors all over the place, but with MCP dev tools it could actually verify things, find patterns, assign fixes, and bring it into shape without me guessing, after a couple more hours it was working and I’ve been improving the UI and adding features since.
This AI stuff is honestly the craziest tech shift I’ve experienced in my life, I’m kind of addicted to building now, and I can’t even imagine what someone who truly understands software can do with this if they use it at full power, I’m really excited to see what’s next.
If you want it even more “you”, here are two quick tweaks you can apply:
- Replace a couple “honestly” with “no joke” or “I’m not even kidding”
- Add one or two punchy single-line breaks like: “That part still blows my mind.” or “And yeah, it’s addicting.”
User: i said a few less periods not each secition a period edit
i said a few less periods not each secition a period
Assistant: Got it — you want it to flow with way fewer hard stops, more like you’re talking, with only a handful of periods total … edit
Got it — you want it to flow with way fewer hard stops, more like you’re talking, with only a handful of periods total and using line breaks + commas to control the rhythm
Here’s a rewrite like that (no em dashes, very few periods)
I started using AI to code in August 2025 and it’s honestly one of the most empowering and insane things I’ve ever experienced
When I was about 16 (like 12 years ago) I messed around with HTML, CSS, and a little PHP, and I even made some money online as a kid on sites like DigitalPoint, I got a lot of fundamentals down and learned how to manage MySQL, but my life went a different direction and I never really got back into coding
When I got interested again in the last few years it felt like everything had gotten way more complex than I remembered, not even just hard, more like “where do I even start,” then I heard about vibe coding so I grabbed Cursor and started throwing ideas at it just to see what would happen
It actually made some neat stuff and I started building tools for my salvage yard job to make my life and my coworkers’ lives easier and cut down on paper, but my early process was rough, I’d have the AI build something, upload via FTP, test it, find errors, paste the errors back, repeat, and I understood just enough to watch what it was doing and catch when it was hallucinating or stuck in an error loop
Then I learned Docker and got my site running locally for testing while keeping staging and production online, and that alone was a huge upgrade because the whole build-test-fix loop got way faster and less frustrating
Eventually I realized Cursor wasn’t the best fit for me and I switched to Claude, then I learned how to run it in the VS Code terminal with Git Bash and that was a turning point, I mostly used Sonnet because it matched my pace, Opus was powerful but it could generate specs so long I’d get overwhelmed
Over time I learned SSH too and had it help me create simple deploy scripts, one for staging and one for production, so now I can build locally with Claude, test on staging, then deploy to production without doing everything manually, and that workflow has been awesome
Since August I’ve built 14 tools for my yard and five are used in daily operations by 10+ users, I know the codebase isn’t perfect and there’s definitely spaghetti code in places, but seeing people use stuff I made at work every day is still kind of unreal
Now with Opus 4.5 and MCP dev tools it feels like what used to take weeks can happen in days, I rebuilt a tool that I had already attempted twice before and wasted days getting nowhere, but this time it came together in under a 5 hour session and that honestly blew my mind
My wife gave me an idea that was supposed to be a simple Christmas list web app, just list people, add items, compare prices at different places, decide later, but it turned into a multi-tenant gift planner that tracks stages, budgets, and the whole reality of trying to keep gift hunting organized without forgetting what you already found
I also learned a new approach that made a huge difference, instead of just saying “build the app,” I spent an hour going back and forth on the full concept, workflow, security, sessions/cookies, UI details, edge cases, then I had it write a spec doc in sections with an index so it could delegate chunks to sub-agents and build it cleanly instead of one giant spaghetti blob
It built the whole structure in one shot but it didn’t work right away and there were errors everywhere, but with MCP dev tools it could actually verify things, spot patterns, assign fixes, and bring it into shape without me guessing, and after a couple more hours it was working and I’ve been adding features and improving the UI since
This AI stuff is the craziest tech shift I’ve seen in my life, I’m honestly addicted to vibe coding now, and I can’t even imagine what people who really understand programming can do with this if they use it at full power, I’m excited to see what’s next
If you want an even more “you” feel, here are two tiny tweaks that help a lot:
- drop in 2–3 casual “beats” as their own lines like “No joke.” / “That part still doesn’t feel real.” / “It’s addicting.”
- keep only 3–5 total periods in the entire thing, and use line breaks when you want the reader to breathe
If you want, I can also do a shorter version in this same run-on style (like 40% shorter) so it hits harder without losing your story.
User: whats a good title for the post for this edit
whats a good title for the post for this
Assistant: Here are some solid title options that match your vibe not corny, not “AI-written”, from punchy to story-style: edit
Here are some solid title options that match your vibe (not corny, not “AI-written”), from punchy to story-style:
- I started “vibe coding” in August and it turned into 14 real work tools
- AI got me coding again after 12 years
- From FTP uploads to Docker + deploy scripts: my AI coding glow-up
- I’m addicted to vibe coding and I don’t even feel bad about it
- How I went from “where do I start” to shipping tools people use daily
- Built 14 tools with AI in a few months… and people actually use them
- I used to be scared of coding. AI changed that
- This is the most empowering tech shift I’ve lived through
- I fell into AI coding by accident and now it’s part of my life
- AI + a salvage yard = the weirdest (best) productivity combo
- Vibe coding took me from ideas to real software at work
- Not a programmer, but I shipped real tools anyway
If you want one that’s super “you” and stops scrolls, my top 3 are:
- AI got me coding again after 12 years
- Built 14 tools with AI… and people actually use them
- From “where do I start” to shipping tools at work
References edit
- ↑ "AI coding journey". ChatGPT. Retrieved 2025-11-30.