for vibe coders · claude code first
Create with AI.
Understand what you create.
Glim is a tiny firefly that lives beside your coding agent. It watches what your AI does, explains it in plain words, and turns waiting time into learning time.
The dictionary below is free too, no signup.
You shipped it. Do you understand it?
How much of their own code developers still understand when AI writes it, in Anthropic's own study:
Fifty percent. Half. Down from 67% when they write it themselves. The biggest gap: debugging. Researchers call it comprehension debt, and the bill arrives when something breaks.
The stuck loop
Your agent keeps fixing the same bug. You can't tell why, because the code is a stranger's.
The fear of touching it
"It works, don't touch it" is not a plan. It's a prayer with a deadline.
The silent holes
Exposed API keys and open databases don't warn you. They wait. Understanding is a security feature.
Watch Glim teach. One line at a time:
- npm ERR! ERESOLVE unable to resolve dependency tree
- Two packages your app uses want different versions of the same thing.
- Access blocked by CORS policy: No 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin'
- Your app called a server that never said it was allowed to answer.
- UnhandledPromiseRejection: connection terminated
- Something failed quietly, and nothing was there to catch it.
- fatal: not a git repository (or any of the parent directories)
- You're in the wrong folder. Git can't see a project here.
- Missing environment variable: STRIPE_SECRET_KEY
- Your app needs a key you haven't given it yet.
- ECONNREFUSED 127.0.0.1:5432
- Your app knocked on the database's door. Nobody's home.
- CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in src/App.tsx
- Two changes touched the same lines. Someone has to choose.
- Row Level Security policy violation for table "users"
- The database refused to hand out data it shouldn't. That's the lock doing its job.
Move your cursor and Glim follows. In the app, she narrates your real session this way. Scroll and Glim follows. In the app, she narrates your real session this way.
Full lessons: npm & node_modules · CORS · git basics · environment variables · databases · rollback & revert · Row Level Security
Not sure what your agent just did? Ask Glim now.
Paste your last session (a git diff, the terminal output, or your agent's summary) and get the plain-words version of what happened, plus what to check before you ship. It's the engine of the companion, running free on the web. Nothing stored.
Explain my session →Meet Glim, your coding companion
That free tool is the engine. The full companion lives beside your terminal while your agent works: a small night light in the corner of your screen, never in your way, never stealing your focus. It turns what your AI does into something you actually understand, and it does three things for you.
› add a login page to my app
Planning: 3 steps
Created src/pages/login.astro
Modified auth.ts · running tests…
Your agent is building the login page. Right now it is writing the rule that checks passwords. Nothing is live yet. Before you ship, I'll show you the two things to double-check.
A glimpse of the app we are building in public.
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You understand every move
Plain-words narration as your agent works, so you always know what changed and why. No dev-speak, no guessing what your own app does.
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You ship without fear
Before you go live, Glim flags the risky parts: an exposed API key, an open database, a check you skipped. Understanding is a security feature.
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You get sharper every session
Dead time becomes 30-second lessons and quizzes drawn from your project, not textbook code. You learn the thing you just built.
Claude Code first. Cursor and Lovable are next.
Asleep, a quiet glow. Awake, it explains. That is the whole personality.
The Vibe Coder's Dictionary
Every word your AI throws at you, explained the way a friend would. Free, no signup. Each entry also teaches you how to say it like a dev.
API key vs secret vs token: what is the difference?
A secret is any credential you keep hidden; an API key is a long-lived secret identifying your app, and a token is a short-lived secret identifying a user or session.
aiClaude Code vs Claude.ai: which Claude are you actually using?
Claude.ai is the chat where you paste code and read answers, while Claude Code is the agent that opens your project, edits real files, and runs commands, all powered by the same Claude models.
aiCursor modes explained: Agent, Ask, and where Composer went
Cursor's chat pane runs in modes that set what the AI may do: Agent edits your files, Ask answers questions read-only, and Plan, Debug, and Design cover special workflows; Composer, the old pane name, now names Cursor's own model.
webCustom domains and DNS (why your site takes hours to go live)
DNS is the address book that tells the internet which server your domain name actually points to, and the wait after you set it up is computers around the world clearing their old cached answer, not your domain "travelling" anywhere.
aiDo I need an AGENTS.md? (and how it differs from CLAUDE.md)
AGENTS.md is an open, plain markdown file at your project's root that gives AI coding agents your build and test commands, conventions, and warnings in one shared format, read natively by tools like Cursor, Codex, and GitHub Copilot, though Claude Code reads CLAUDE.md instead.
codeFramework vs library: what is the difference?
A library is code your app calls when it needs something; a framework calls your code and decides the structure, which is why your whole project takes its shape from the framework you pick.
The big questions
Longer answers for the questions that keep vibe coders up at night. Honest, in plain words, with sources.
Do you need to understand the code your AI writes?
Do you need to understand the code your AI writes, or is directing it enough? A real study, a named cost, and what actually helps you ship safely.
guideHow do you know if your vibe-coded app is secure?
How do you know if your vibe-coded app is secure? A checklist covering exposed API keys, open databases, input validation, and dependencies.
guideClaude Code vs Cursor vs Lovable: which one should you use?
Never coded, want to learn, or already live in an editor? How Claude Code, Cursor, and Lovable compare, with real 2026 prices.
Be there when Glim lights up
One email when the app is ready, a handful while we build it in public. First light goes to the waitlist.
Fair questions
What is Glimfly?
Glimfly is a companion app for vibe coders: people who build software by directing AI agents. Glim, a small firefly, sits beside your coding agent, explains what it is doing in plain words, teaches you during dead time, and tells you what to check before you ship.
Which tools will it work with?
Claude Code first, because that is where we build and test every day. Cursor and Lovable support comes next.
When does it launch, and what does it cost?
We are building in public right now. The dictionary is free forever. The app will launch with a free tier; join the waitlist to get in first.
Who is building this?
A beginner vibe coder and his AI co-director, in public. Glimfly exists because we personally hit every wall described on this site.