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Getting Started with Vibe Coding: Setting Up Your Development Environment from Scratch ​

English · 繁中 · Español · 日本語 · Português (BR)

Author: Danko Peng (@dankopeng)
Updated: March 2026
Reading time: ~10 minutes

Follow This Guide and Your Environment Will Be Ready ​

A lot of people get stuck at this stage — not because it’s too hard, but because they don’t know what to do or in what order.

This guide walks through every prerequisite, one step at a time. By the end, you’ll have a complete Vibe Coding development environment set up, with vibefast.app already deployed and running on Cloudflare.

What you need to install: Node.js, Git, Cursor. What you need to do: clone the repo, run npm install, run npm run setup. That’s it.

Step 1: Install Node.js ​

Node.js is the runtime that lets your computer run JavaScript. Without it, npm and npx won’t work.

Go to nodejs.org and download the LTS version (Long Term Support).

After installing, open your terminal and verify:

bash
node --version
# You should see something like v22.0.0

npm --version
# You should see something like 10.0.0

If you see version numbers, the installation was successful.

A Quick Note on the Terminal ​

If you’re not familiar with the terminal (the black window), don’t be intimidated.

Mac: Press Cmd + Space, search for “Terminal”, and open it.
Windows: Search for “PowerShell” or install Windows Terminal.

The terminal is just a place where you communicate with your computer using text commands. You type a command, the computer runs it. About half of the Vibe Coding workflow happens here.

What Are npm and npx? (30-Second Version) ​

npm (Node Package Manager) is JavaScript’s package management tool. Developers around the world publish their tools and libraries to the npm registry, and you can download and use them for free.

bash
npm install stripe   # download the Stripe package into your project
npm run dev          # run the "dev" script defined in package.json

npx runs a tool directly without installing it first:

bash
npx wrangler deploy  # run wrangler directly, no npm install needed

That’s all you need to know for now. If you encounter other npm commands, ask AI to explain them.

Step 2: Install Git ​

Git is a version control tool that lets you clone repositories and track changes to your code.

Mac: Type this in your terminal:

bash
git --version

If Git isn’t installed, macOS will automatically prompt you to install Xcode Command Line Tools. Follow the prompts.

Windows: Go to git-scm.com and download the installer.

Verify after installing:

bash
git --version
# You should see something like git version 2.40.0

Step 3: Create a Cloudflare Account ​

Go to cloudflare.com and sign up for a free account.

vibefast.app deploys to Cloudflare, so you'll need an account to complete the setup. The free plan's limits are more than enough for a new app.

Enable R2 (Requires a Credit Card) ​

vibefast.app uses Cloudflare R2 to store files and images. R2 is disabled by default and must be enabled manually — Cloudflare will ask for a credit card when you do.

Steps:

  1. Log in to the Cloudflare Dashboard
  2. Click R2 in the left sidebar
  3. Click "Purchase R2 Plan" or "Enable R2" and follow the prompts to enter your credit card

You won't be charged immediately. R2 includes a free tier each month (10 GB storage, 1 million read operations). You're only billed if you exceed those limits. The credit card is used for identity verification and for any usage beyond the free tier. For a new app, you won't come close to those limits.

Step 4: Clone vibefast.app ​

After purchasing vibefast.app, you’ll receive a collaborator invitation to the private repo. Accept the invitation, then run:

bash
git clone https://github.com/vibefast-app/vibefast.git my-app
cd my-app

git clone copies the entire repository to your computer. cd my-app moves you into that folder.

Step 5: npm install ​

bash
npm install

This reads the project’s package.json and downloads all the required packages into a node_modules folder.

The first run might take a few minutes. Wait for the completion message.

Why is this necessary?
The node_modules folder is large (hundreds of MB) and isn’t stored on GitHub. Every time you clone a new project, you need to run npm install to download the packages locally.

Step 6: npm run setup ​

bash
npm run setup

This is the most magical step in the whole process.

Combined with the clone and install, you’ve now run just three commands:

bash
git clone https://github.com/vibefast-app/vibefast.git my-app
cd my-app && npm install
npm run setup

npm run setup handles everything automatically:

  1. Guides you through logging into your Cloudflare account
  2. Creates the D1 database and runs the bootstrap SQL
  3. Auto-generates a JWT secret and writes it to Cloudflare environment variables
  4. Deploys both the frontend and backend Workers to production simultaneously

When it finishes, your app is running on 300+ Cloudflare edge nodes around the world. From clone to global deployment — three commands, a few minutes. That’s Vibe Coding on Cloudflare.

The terminal will display your app URL. Open it in a browser to confirm everything is live.

Step 7: Install Cursor ​

Cursor is currently the most popular AI code editor and the core tool for Vibe Coding.

Cursor is paid software at $20/month. After signing up, you get a 7-day free trial with full functionality — no credit card required. Decide whether to subscribe after the trial ends.

Go to cursor.com, download and install, then sign up with your email to start the 7-day trial.

After installing, open your project in Cursor:

bash
cursor .

Or go to File → Open Folder inside Cursor and select your my-app folder.

Once open, press Cmd+L (Mac) or Ctrl+L (Windows) to open the AI chat panel. Try typing:

What's the structure of this project? Can you explain the main folders and files?

Cursor will analyze your entire project and explain what each part does.

Local Development ​

Once your environment is set up, your everyday development flow is:

bash
npm run dev

This starts a local development server. Open http://localhost:5173 to see your app running locally.

Make changes locally → confirm everything works → npm run deploy to push to production.

This is the basic development loop.

What You Now Have ​

After completing these seven steps, you have:

  • ✅ Node.js and npm installed
  • ✅ Git installed
  • ✅ A Cloudflare account
  • ✅ vibefast.app deployed to production and accessible worldwide
  • ✅ Cursor installed and ready for Vibe Coding

Continue to the next tutorial and start building the features you want.

Danko Peng
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