06
tracer bullet
One live round: a small feature through every layer, leaving a visible trace so you can correct aim.
What is tracer bullet?
Close to a walking skeleton, but the point is a real feature, real data, real integrations — extremely narrow. You fire it to see the trajectory, not to finish the war.
Why does tracer bullet matter when vibe coding?
The model works in layers: finish the whole data tier, then the whole UI. A tracer forbids that. One thin slice through the stack, so you correct the prompt against a real interface.
How do you do tracer bullet?
Pick one user-visible win, e.g. “paste a URL, save a bookmark.” Punch through UI, API, storage. See which layer’s assumption was wrong. Fire the next round.
How do you ask a model for tracer bullet?
One tracer bullet: the user can complete (one thing), through UI, API, and database. Do not finish any layer. I must be able to click it in preview.
What goes wrong with tracer bullet?
Using “tracer” as a synonym for skeleton, wiring everything and shipping no user action. The round has to hit a user verb.