Vibe Coding Mistakes to Avoid
What Goes Wrong and How to Prevent It
Vibe coding lowers the barrier to building software — but it does not lower the consequences of building it badly. In May 2025, a security audit of Lovable-built apps found that 170 out of 1,645 had data-leak vulnerabilities. These are the mistakes that cause problems, and exactly how to avoid them.
Talk to an ExpertWhat the most common vibe coding mistakes actually are
Vibe coding mistakes fall into three categories: security gaps, architectural oversights, and scope errors. Security gaps are the most serious — they expose user data or allow unauthorised access. A May 2025 audit of 1,645 Lovable-built applications found 170 with data-leak vulnerabilities, almost all caused by missing or misconfigured Row Level Security in Supabase. Architectural oversights — missing error handling, no input validation, broken edge cases — cause apps to crash under real conditions. Scope errors — building too much before testing, adding features before validating retention — waste time and money. All three categories are avoidable. None of them are caused by vibe coding tools being bad — they are caused by builders not applying the same discipline to AI-generated code that they would apply to any other production software.
Security gaps: missing auth, misconfigured Row Level Security, exposed API keys
Architectural oversights: no error handling, unvalidated inputs, broken edge cases
Scope errors: building too much before testing, adding features before validating retention
May 2025: 170 of 1,645 Lovable apps had data-leak vulnerabilities — all preventable
Why these mistakes happen to non-developers specifically
Non-technical builders do not make these mistakes because they are careless — they make them because the vibe coding experience is deliberately optimised for fast first results. The tools show you a working application immediately. That speed creates a false sense of completeness. The app looks finished. It works in the demo. The security configuration that is missing is invisible to someone who does not know to look for it. The same experience that makes vibe coding accessible — instant results, iterative conversation — can mask gaps that would be caught in a traditional engineering review. The solution is not to slow down, but to add a structured review checklist before any public launch.
Fast first results create a false sense of completeness
Missing security configs are invisible to builders who do not know to look for them
No traditional code review means no one catching what the AI missed
The solution is a launch checklist, not slower building
How to prevent the most common vibe coding mistakes
Prevention follows a simple pre-launch checklist. Run through this before sharing any vibe-coded app with real users:
Step 1 — Enable Row Level Security in Supabase: Every table. Verify with a test query from a different user account
Step 2 — Audit your exposed routes: Can an unauthenticated user access any data by changing a URL parameter?
Step 3 — Validate all user inputs: Can someone submit empty required fields? Can they inject unusual characters?
Step 4 — Test every error state: What happens when a database query fails? When Stripe declines a payment?
Step 5 — Check for exposed API keys: Search your deployed code for any secrets that should only be server-side
Step 6 — Test on a real mobile device: Layout issues on mobile are the most common user-facing bug
Step 7 — Have one other person try to break it: Fresh eyes catch what familiarity misses
Real incidents caused by vibe coding mistakes
The incidents that have received public attention are instructive — they show exactly what happens when discipline is not applied.
Lovable audit (May 2025): 170 of 1,645 apps had data-leak vulnerabilities — all caused by missing Row Level Security in Supabase
Replit agent (July 2025, SaaStr): An AI coding agent deleted a production database while attempting to run a migration — no backup had been configured
Multiple documented cases of vibe-coded apps with hardcoded API keys in client-side code — keys are visible in browser developer tools
Common: broken cancellation flows in subscription apps causing Stripe chargebacks that freeze merchant accounts
The five mistakes that cause the most damage
After the security audit incidents and documented production failures, these are the five mistakes with the highest consequence for non-technical builders.
Missing Row Level Security: All user data is accessible to all users — a fundamental data breach
Hardcoded secrets: API keys in client-side code are publicly visible in any browser's developer tools
No backup: Any database operation run without a prior backup can cause permanent data loss
Skipped input validation: Allows malformed data that breaks queries, corrupts records, or enables injection
No error handling: When anything goes wrong, the user sees a blank screen or a raw error — and you have no log to debug from
How to build vibe-coded apps that do not fail publicly
The non-negotiable practices for any vibe-coded app used by real people are simple: security configuration before launch, one test account to verify access controls, and a backup before any database changes. These three things prevent 90% of the most serious incidents. For apps that hold real user data or process payments, Greta conducts a full security audit before every deployment — checking everything the AI might have missed.
Never launch without verifying Row Level Security with a test user account
Never store secrets in client-side code — use environment variables on the server
Always back up the database before running any migration or structural change
Test every error state before launch — not just the happy path
For production apps with real user data, Greta provides a full security audit before deploy
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