Happy Git for Vibe Coders
Mastering Git & GitHub in the Age of AI Agents
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Welcome
“There’s a new kind of coding I call ‘vibe coding’, where you fully give in to the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget that the code even exists.”
— Andrej Karpathy, February 2025
This guide is for vibe coders: developers who use AI agents like Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, or other assistants to write code. Whether you’re an experienced developer exploring these new tools or a newcomer discovering programming through LLMs, this guide will help you master Git and GitHub in this new paradigm.
Why this guide?
Traditional Git guides assume you write every line of code yourself. But the world has changed:
- The agent writes, you supervise: Your role evolves toward architecture, review, and direction
- Diffs explode: An agent can generate hundreds of lines in seconds
- Traceability becomes crucial: Who wrote what? Human or AI?
- Errors propagate quickly: An unfortunate “Accept All” can introduce subtle bugs
This guide gives you the tools and practices to navigate this new era confidently.
What you’ll learn
Understanding the revolution
- Andrej Karpathy’s Software 3.0 paradigm
- The difference between vibe coding and AI-assisted development
Mastering Git with agents
- Configuring Git for agent-assisted work
- Adapted branching strategies
- Atomic commits despite large changes
Smart automation
- GitHub Actions for CI/CD
- Asynchronous workflows à la Simon Willison
- Automated tests as a safety net
Best practices
- Reviewing AI-generated code
- Security and secrets
- Troubleshooting common situations
This guide’s approach
Like its inspiration Happy Git with R, this guide is opinionated. Rather than presenting all possible options, we give you clear recommendations based on community experience.
“Trust the AI, but verify the output.” — The vibe coder community
We believe AI agents are incredible force multipliers, but human judgment remains essential. Git and GitHub are your safety nets.
Prerequisites
- A computer (Windows, macOS, or Linux)
- An internet connection
- Curiosity and an open mind
No prior Git experience required. If you can already use a coding agent, you have the basics you need.
How to use this guide
- Read sequentially if you’re just starting out
- Navigate by topic if you’re looking for a specific answer
- Experiment with the provided examples
This guide is open source. If you find errors or have suggestions, feel free to open an issue or pull request on the GitHub repository.
Inspirations and acknowledgments
This guide is inspired by:
- Happy Git with R by Jenny Bryan et al.
- The writings of Simon Willison on AI and development
- Andrej Karpathy’s vision of Software 3.0
- The growing community of vibe coders
Ready to start? Head to Chapter 1: Software 3.0.