Vibe Kit

Context Engineering for AI Development

Give your AI assistants (Cursor, Claude, VS Code Copilot, Aider) structured context through markdown files. Vibe Kit creates a knowledge base that ensures AI generates code matching your exact patterns, style, and architecture—no more hallucinated code or mismatched conventions.

Vibe Kit is a CLI tool that provides context-engineering capabilities by creating .vibe-kit/ directories with project standards, guidelines, and patterns that AI assistants read automatically.

Why Vibe Kit?

The problem: LLMs are great at syntax, not at your conventions. Generic AI output requires manual fixes for style, structure, and architecture.

The solution: Vibe Kit provides your AI with:

• Glossary of project terminology and business terms (e.g., checkout, customer, order)
• Standards for code style, testing patterns, and architecture
• Templates with canonical component shapes

Update .md files as your project evolves; the AI follows.

Multi-Platform Support

Works with: Cursor (auto) • VS Code (@.vibe-kit) • Claude CLI • Codex CLI • Aider • Continue • Gemini CLI

Quick Start (60s)

Requirements: Node.js 14.x+ (16.x+ recommended) and npm/yarn. Optional: Git for hooks, AI tools for usage.

# Step 1: Install globally (recommended)
npm i -g @nolrm/vibe-kit

# Step 2: Navigate to your project and install
cd your-project
vibe-kit install

This creates .vibe-kit/ with skeleton context files (blank templates to be filled by AI):

.vibe-kit/
  standards/       # Skeleton files: code-style.md, testing.md, architecture.md, ai-guidelines.md, workflows.md
                  # Real files: glossary.md (universal), README.md (overview)
  commands/        # analyze.md (project analysis & customization)
  templates/       # example component template

Generate content with AI (recommended):

vk analyze
# AI scans your codebase and generates content for the skeleton files
# or in Cursor chat:  @.vibe-kit/commands/analyze.md

⚠️ Important: After running vk analyze, manually review and edit the generated content to match your exact needs. The AI provides a starting point, but you must customize it.

Multi-Team Workflow

Perfect for teams where members use different AI tools:

# First team member (any tool) - sets up the project
vibe-kit install

# Cursor users add their integration
vibe-kit cursor    # or: vk cursor

# Claude users add their integration  
vibe-kit claude    # or: vk claude

# Codex users add their integration
vibe-kit codex     # or: vk codex

# VS Code users add their integration
vibe-kit vscode    # or: vk vscode

Each platform integration is added to .vibe-kit/ without overwriting existing files. Share your analyzed .vibe-kit/standards/*.md files with the team and everyone gets the same context.

See the difference (before → after)

Prompt

"Add checkout flow for customer"

What the AI does with Vibe Kit

• Reads glossary.md → checkout = checkout process; customer = customer account
• Applies code-style.md → strict TS, functional components
• Follows testing.md → numbered test cases

Result (diff)

- const Checkout = () => <button>Buy</button>
+ export function CheckoutFlow({ customer }: { customer: string }) {
+   // Uses customer from glossary context
+   return <div>Checkout for {customer}</div>
+ }

Use it in your tool

Cursor (AI chat)

@.vibe-kit/commands/analyze.md

VS Code (Copilot Chat)

@.vibe-kit Create checkout flow for customer

CLI (Chat with AI)

vk ai "create checkout flow for customer"

Claude / Gemini / Codex / Aider (Direct context)

read .vibe-kit/commands/analyze.md and execute

Key Features

• 🧠 Context Engineering - Structured MD files your AI reads automatically
• 🔍 Smart Analysis - AI generates standards content based on your codebase
• 🌍 Project Agnostic - Works with React, Vue, Node.js, PHP, Python, Rust, monorepos—any project type
• 🤖 Multi-Platform - Works with Cursor, Claude CLI, Codex CLI, Aider, Continue, VS Code, Gemini
• 🛡️ Safe Install - Backs up existing files with rollback support
• ⚡ Zero Config - Auto-detects package managers and AI tools
• ✅ Policy Enforcement - Configurable validation with vk check
• 📝 Corrections Tracking - Track AI performance issues with corrections log
• 🔄 Workflow Orchestration - Structured workflows with vk run
• 📦 Registry System - Share standards across teams with vk publish/pull
• 📊 Observability Dashboard - Visual metrics and compliance tracking

Commands

# Installation & Setup
vk install     # set up .vibe-kit in this repo
vk cursor      # add Cursor integration
vk continue    # add Continue integration
vk aider       # add Aider integration
vk vscode      # add VS Code integration
vk claude      # add Claude CLI integration
vk codex       # add Codex CLI integration
vk gemini      # add Gemini CLI integration

# Analysis & Updates
vk analyze     # customize standards to your project  
vk update      # pull latest updates
vk status      # check install & integrations

# Validation & Compliance
vk check       # validate installation & policy compliance
vk check --strict  # treat warnings as errors

# Corrections Logging
vk note "message"  # add note to corrections log
vk note "AI issue" --category "AI Behavior" --priority HIGH

# Workflow Orchestration
vk run <workflow>  # run structured workflow
vk run create-component  # example workflow
vk run create-component --interactive  # interactive mode

# Registry & Versioning
vk publish --name @company/react-standards --version 1.0.0
vk pull @company/[email protected]
vk pull @company/react-standards@latest --backup

# Observability
vk dashboard   # start web dashboard
vk dashboard --no-server  # CLI metrics only

# AI Usage (loads .vibe-kit context automatically)
vk "create a button"  # quick AI chat with context
vk ai "create a button"  # explicit AI command

See full documentation for detailed guides.

Links

• 📚 Full Documentation • 🐛 Issues • 💬 Discussions

License

MIT

Author

Marlon Maniti
GitHub: @nolrm