05
walking skeleton
A path so thin it is almost bone, but it walks end to end: deploy, sign in, write one row, read it back.
What is walking skeleton?
A walking skeleton wires the real pipes first — build, environment, auth, storage, one round trip. Features come later. It proves the system walks, not that a screen looks finished.
Why does walking skeleton matter when vibe coding?
The model loves settings screens and dark mode. A skeleton reverses the order: one live record through an environment shaped like production. TDD has somewhere to hang after that.
How do you do walking skeleton?
Name the thinnest path, e.g. sign up → create one record → still there after refresh. No flanking features. Deploy a preview. Grow the second piece only when that path is green.
How do you ask a model for walking skeleton?
Walking skeleton first: sign up, create one (object), still there after refresh. No settings, no filters, no dark mode. Get that path running in preview.
What goes wrong with walking skeleton?
A skeleton made of fake data and fake auth. That is a poster. It cannot walk.