Vibecoding, a term introduced by computer scientist Andrej Karpathy, represents a revolutionary approach to programming that harnesses the capabilities of advanced large language models.

Vibecoding is gaining popularity in online communities, especially among developers who enjoy sharing their coding sessions. It's not about following any rules but having fun, trying out new ideas, and letting creativity take the lead.

In this article, you will learn how to Vibecode a Gas Price Tracker with Blockscout APIs.

Tools

Below are the tools used in this tutorial.

• Grok
• Loveable
• Blockscout for gas price data ( https://eth.blockscout.com/api/v2/stats).
• CoinGecko API for converting ETH to USD prices.

Stage 1: Get an Idea and Refine it

Vibecoding begins with a cool initial idea for a project or feature. Next, we dive into exploring and refining it through some brainstorming sessions. Utilizing advanced tools like Grok and ChatGPT enhances our efforts, allowing us to explore various suggestions, expand our creative boundaries, and refine our concepts more effectively.

Stage 2 - Generate a Design Document

After refining the initial idea, the next step is to create a comprehensive design document that clearly articulates the project's goals, structure, and key functionalities. This document will serve as a blueprint, effectively capturing the project's essence and key requirements in a clear and organized format. This structured approach will facilitate a smoother transition from concept to code, ensuring all crucial elements are addressed. 

Simply ask the large language model to generate a design document for the refined idea.

Click on the download icon to get the markdown file for the design document.

Stage 3: Upload the Document into your AI Builder

Upload your document or paste it into your preferred AI coding tool. The AI will analyze the document, generate the required code, and manage the implementation details. You have the flexibility to refine both the code and the user interface by providing prompts to the AI tool as needed.

Final Result

Lovable allows you to deploy your app with a single click. Click on the publish button at the top of the screen to deploy your app.

Here are some of its features;

• Real-Time Gas Prices: Fetches and displays slow, average, and fast gas prices (in Gwei) for multiple blockchain networks (Ethereum, Base, Optimism). It updates every 30 seconds to keep the data fresh. The gas prices are color-coded for easy visual distinction.

• Multichain Support: Users can select from multiple blockchain networks using a dropdown selector, which dynamically updates the displayed data based on the selected network.

• Historical Gas Price Trends: Displays a 12-hour gas price trend chart using Chart.js, showing slow, average, and fast prices with smooth line graphs.

• Transaction Cost Estimator: Estimates transaction costs for common transaction types (ETH transfer, ERC-20 transfer, token swap, NFT mint), calculating costs in ETH and USD based on gas price and gas limits, with an option to input custom gas limits.

• Gas Price Alerts: Allows users to set alerts when gas prices drop below a specified Gwei threshold for a chosen speed level (slow, average, fast). Alerts use browser notifications if enabled.

• Footer with Developer Mode: A footer that includes links (GitHub, Blockscout) and a toggle for Developer Mode, which shows additional network and analytics metrics with simulated data.

• Polling & Loading States: The app handles loading states for data fetching and automatically polls for data updates every 30 seconds to keep the UI up to date.

• Browser Notifications & Permission Management: Users can enable or disable browser notifications for gas price alerts, with permission requests handled gracefully.

Conclusion

Vibecoding has transformed app development by empowering developers to transform creative ideas into functional apps with unprecedented speed and ease. By leveraging AI tools like GitHub Copilot, Cursor Composer, and Lovable, developers can rapidly prototype, iterate, and build apps through natural language prompts, lowering skill barriers and enhancing the developer experience.

This intuitive, vibe-driven approach fosters creativity, enabling both novices and experts to focus on innovative designs and user experiences, resulting in faster development cycles and more accessible app creation.

However, vibecoding presents challenges that require careful navigation. AI-generated code can be prone to bugs, inefficiencies, or security vulnerabilities, necessitating thorough review and testing to avoid technical debt. Additionally, over-reliance on AI tools risks diminishing traditional coding skills and may lead to generic app designs if the "vibe" lacks specificity. Developers must balance the creative freedom of vibecoding with disciplined validation to ensure robust, high-quality applications.