Glossary

The vocabulary that comes up when directing a model to build something real, from the first prompt to the live URL. Start with Vibe Coding 101 for the walkthrough these terms describe.

A

·1 TERM

agent /noun/ — a model that plans its own next steps and calls tools to get there, instead of answering in a single turn. Claude Code is the agent behind every build documented on this site.

B

·1 TERM

build /noun, verb/ — compiling the actual project from source (npm run build here). A clean build is a correctness gate to clear before a pull request opens, not a nice-to-have.

C

·3 TERMS

commit / pull request (PR) /noun/ — a commit is one saved, reviewable unit of change; a PR is the request to merge it into the main branch, and the point where a build either passes or it doesn't.

context /noun/ — everything a model can see when it answers: open files, the conversation so far, project instructions. More context isn't automatically better context — irrelevant context crowds out what actually matters.

context window /noun/ — the hard ceiling on how much context fits at once, measured in tokens. Long sessions get summarized once they approach it, which is why durable decisions belong in the repo, not the conversation.

D

·1 TERM

deploy /verb/ — publishing a build somewhere reachable. On this site, every push triggers its own Cloudflare build before anything reaches the live domain.

H

·1 TERM

hallucination /noun/ — a confident, wrong answer with no visible sign that it’s wrong. The reason “does it build” and “does the number check out” matter more than “does it sound right.”

J

·1 TERM

JSON-LD /noun/ — structured data embedded in a page as a <script type="application/ld+json"> block, describing what the page is (an article, a FAQ, an organization) in a format search engines and AI crawlers can parse directly instead of inferring it from prose.

L

·1 TERM

lint /noun, verb/ — a deterministic check that flags code or copy issues by pattern- or rule-matching, without calling a model. Cheaper and more consistent than a model call for anything with a fixed, checkable answer — like a forbidden-word list.

M

·3 TERMS

meta description /noun/ — the <meta name="description"> tag on a page — a one- or two-sentence summary that search engines often show as the snippet under a search result, and that this site also reuses for the OpenGraph and Twitter card descriptions.

MCP (Model Context Protocol) /noun/ — an open standard that lets an agent call out to external tools and data sources through one common interface, instead of every integration being bespoke.

MCP server /noun/ — a standalone process built on MCP that exposes resources, prompts, or tools over a common interface, so any compatible client — Claude Desktop, a different agent, a CI job — can call it without cloning the repo it came from.

O

·1 TERM

OpenGraph /noun/ — the og:* meta tags (title, description, type, image) that control how a link looks when it’s pasted into Slack, iMessage, or a social feed, instead of falling back to a bare URL.

P

·3 TERMS

pattern /noun/ — the reusable technique behind a recipe: the part you can actually take and reapply, independent of the specific tool that shipped it.

prompt /noun/ — the instruction actually sent to the model. The single variable most worth rewriting before touching any code.

provenance /noun/ — a record of who authored a given block and how (human, Claude, or a mix of both), plus the prompt that could rebuild it. This site’s own version sits behind the “Behind the build” button on every page.

R

·2 TERMS

recipe /noun/ — this site's unit of content: a pattern paired with a documented, real result, not a general tips post.

repo (repository) /noun/ — where code and its history actually live. The shared state that survives after any one agent's session ends.

S

·3 TERMS

SEO metadata /noun/ — the non-visible tags in a page's <head> — meta description, OpenGraph, JSON-LD, canonical URL — that tell search engines and AI crawlers what a page is about, separate from what a human reader actually sees.

slop (AI slop) /noun/ — copy or design that reads unmistakably AI-generated: left-accent boxes, an eyebrow over everything, an icon on every bullet. Cataloged in detail on Vibe Check.

system prompt / project instructions /noun/ — the standing instructions a model reads before anything else in a session (this repo's own CLAUDE.md). Durable across sessions, unlike a single prompt.

T

·2 TERMS

token /noun/ — a model's unit of text, roughly a word or a word-piece. Usage costs and context-window limits are both counted in tokens, not words.

tool call /noun/ — the moment an agent stops writing text and does something with real effects instead: running a command, editing a file, calling an API.

V

·1 TERM

vibe coding /noun/ — describing what you want in plain language and letting a model do the typing. The result depends less on how the prompt is worded than on how much real context it’s given — see Vibe Coding 101.