After a few minor setbacks, I was able to build a custom website in no time.
As someone who’s written a fair amount about how AI, specifically vibe coding, can turn anyone into a programmer, I decided I had to actually try it for myself. Does vibe coding live up to all the hype?
Claude Code is the tool I was most curious about, having interviewed its founder and tracked its rise in popularity from its June debut. Anthropic now calls it „the best coding model in the world“, though that kind of claim is hard to back up. Plus, AI companies tend to use hyperbolic language like „the smartest“ and „the best“ model ever.
I called up my contacts at Anthropic and told them I wanted to use Claude Code to complete a small project, all on my own. They were excited, but we agreed it might be a stretch. To start, there’s no public-facing guide for non-programmers on how to set up and use Claude Code. So, Anthropic created one especially for me, with FAQs like „What is a Terminal?“—something 100% of programmers already know, but I needed.
Three days and a few hours later, I had coded a custom website with minimal issues. It was an eye-opening experience and a ton of fun. The website addresses a problem I encountered while house hunting in the New York City metro area—determining the walking distance to public transit stops. I had to constantly copy and paste addresses from Zillow or Redfin into Google Maps, configure the directions, view the walk time, and repeat. Mundane, to say the least.
My Claude-Coded website pulls listings from Redfin and automatically calculates the walk time to the nearest train stop. The data is displayed in a simple interface with a map and key details about each home. Here’s how I did it, and how to get started with your own project.How to Choose a Vibe Coding Tool
Virtually all AI chatbots can generate snippets of code, but a proper vibe coding tool takes programming to the next level. Many have direct access to files on your computer and can see the entire codebase . That’s why professional engineers are still the primary audience.
In addition to Claude Code, some of the biggest names in this space include OpenAI’s Codex, GitHub Copilot, Replit, Lovable, and Windsurf, whose VP of product and marketing we interviewed for our vibe coding explainer. All of these will require a little bit of technical know-how to set up. Here’s how I did it with Claude Code.Installing Claude Code on Your PC
First things first, Claude Code requires a subscription, either the $17/month Pro or $100/month Max plan. You cannot access it through the web-based Claude chatbot, which is free. Anthropic set me up with the $100/month Max plan to get started, but that was probably overkill. My humble real estate website would’ve likely worked with the $17 Pro plan.
Once you sign up online, the next steps depend on whether you’re on Windows or macOS, though the principles are the same for both. I’m on a Mac, so I’ll focus on that. (Anthropic also offers bare-bones instructions for other operating systems.)
First, open the Terminal app. „The terminal is a built-in app on your Mac that lets you interact with your computer by typing commands“, says Anthropic’s guide. „Think of it as a different way to ‚talk‘ to your computer to control it more directly. It’s also the primary interface for accessing Claude Code.“
Copy and paste this command into your terminal: curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash. Press Enter. You’ll see some text, followed by a message indicating that the installation was successful. But don’t make the same mistake I did and think it was ready to go. Before the „success“ message, you may see a small note in yellow font with additional commands to run. Do whatever is there, and then close and re-open the terminal.
In a new terminal window, type claude and press Enter. It will then ask you if you want to log in with your Claude account or through an API for professionals. Select your choice with keyboard arrows, not your mouse, and then press Enter. I selected number one below, linked to my account, and within seconds, I was ready to rock.Picking a Project: What Are the Options?
Now I had the world of AI coding at my fingertips, but the big question was what did I want to make? A Windsurf exec I interviewed once mentioned that beginners could easily create a custom version of the game Wordle.
