From a Simple Thought to a Real Application in Minutes — The Vibe Coder Way

Bedtime stories have always been a cherished tradition, helping children wind down and drift off to sleep. But what happens when a child wants fresh, unique stories every night — without any repetition?

This simple request from a relative’s child inspired creating an AI-powered bedtime story web application.

The Technology Stack

Gemini AI — for natural language processing and story generation
Cursor IDE — AI-powered coding assistant providing real-time code suggestions
React — component-based architecture for the frontend
Tailwind CSS — rapid prototyping and styling

The combination was powerful. Cursor helped write roughly 80% of the code, making development dramatically faster.

Development Process

Phase 1: Defining Goals and Initial Prompts

Started with clear, specific prompts like “Create a function for calling the Gemini API for story generation.” The clearer the prompt, the better the output.

Added error handling, retry mechanisms, and edge case management through iterative conversation with Cursor IDE.

Phase 3: Testing and Finalization

Tested the application thoroughly, ensuring stories were unique, age-appropriate, and engaging.

Tips for Effective AI Pair Programming

Be clear with prompts — specific beats vague every time
Fix mistakes instead of getting frustrated — AI isn’t perfect, but it learns from corrections
Ask Cursor to review code — it can catch issues you might miss
Know when to work without AI — overall UX design and story curation required human judgment

Conclusion

The result? A working application that generates unique, engaging bedtime stories on demand. What started as a simple thought became a real product in minutes, not months. That’s the power of vibe coding with AI.