All geared up ...
I updated my setup guide for vibe coding. You can find it here:
I wanted this to be a general beginner's guide to setting up your computer for vibe coding. I gamified things a bit and also made the guide more forceful on certain decisions. My prior guide gave too many options; this one has fewer forks and emphasizes installing Git and Git Bash upfront, particularly on Windows.
A good terminal determines how your AI can execute system-level commands, such as checking your code for errors or deploying a test server. Macs have a good built-in terminal. Windows PCs don't. They ship with an older version of PowerShell, but that often proves limiting. There is a newer version of PowerShell, as well as Git Bash and the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). I asked Claude to compare these options for me:
| PowerShell | Git Bash | WSL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | Ready out of the box | Ready if Git is installed | ~15 min setup |
| Storage | Minimal | Minimal | 2–3 GB |
| Unix commands | ❌ | ✅ Mostly | ✅ Fully |
| npm / Node | ⚠️ Works but quirky | ✅ Reliable | ✅ Most reliable |
| AI-generated commands work | ⚠️ Often need tweaking | ✅ Usually | ✅ Almost always |
| Dev server compatibility | ⚠️ Hit or miss | ✅ Good | ✅ Best |
| Performance | Fast | Fast | Slight overhead if project is on Windows drive |
The moral of the story is that Git Bash is a much better alternative and will provide a much smoother experience when vibe coding. It is also installed by default with Git, so prioritizing Git in the installation path is very important. WSL works even better, but it is a bit overkill. In my experience, you only need it when you get deeper into using Python and complex machine learning applications that require CUDA and GPU access. I know most of my readers won't have a GPU on their laptops/desktops anyway. It is important that once you start vibe coding in Git Bash, you should not switch to WSL for the same project (or vice versa). This can mess up dependencies. So pick one, and stick with it.
I also prioritized VS Code over Antigravity (or Cursor). I think VS Code is the most versatile IDE, works with any AI coding tool, and is free.
Finally, I provided validation steps that help users understand whether the installation worked correctly. Please have a look, and let me know what you think. My goal is that this makes it so much easier for everyone to install the proper software on their laptops to start vibe coding on their own!
