Hi, I'm Forrest

Tag: mindset

  • The Cycle That Never Ends

    Series: Vibe Coding with Uncle Forrest* — Hey Londyn, this one’s for you.

    New idea → write it → question it → branch it → build it → review it → merge it → repeat.

    Mastery isn’t a trophy. It’s a rhythm. You just keep going until the process becomes part of you.

    Every commit is a small promise to the future. That’s why I build like this. That’s why I’m writing this to you, Londyn — so you can build your worlds, clean and brave.

  • Merging Without Losing Yourself

    Series: Vibe Coding with Uncle Forrest* — Hey Londyn, this one’s for you.

    When the feature is solid, we merge it into the main codebase.

    But merging junk breaks the whole world. That’s why teams use CI/CD — automated guardians that run tests and checks.

    I keep my guardrails light but real. Think of it like our movie night rules: “No phones. No skipping.” Guardrails protect the vibe and the story.

  • Iteration: The Secret Sauce

    Series: Vibe Coding with Uncle Forrest* — Hey Londyn, this one’s for you.

    This is where craft is born.

    Sometimes Claude nails it in one shot. Other times it takes 3–5 heavy rounds. Windsurf finds issues → I tell Claude → Claude fixes → repeat.

    It’s slow. It’s messy. It’s magic.

    Great code is just stubborn kindness to the future. Keep sanding the edges until the thing stops fighting you back.

  • The Review Room

    Series: Vibe Coding with Uncle Forrest* — Hey Londyn, this one’s for you.

    After Claude finishes, I send the code to Cursor and Windsurf for a deep review.

    They catch everything:

    • Unused variables
    • Edge cases I forgot
    • Tests I didn’t write (yeah, yeah, I know)

    Feedback isn’t an insult. It’s a mirror of truth. Remember when you said your sketch was “bad” and I said it was just unfinished? Same energy. We finish it.

  • When the Work Begins

    Series: Vibe Coding with Uncle Forrest* — Hey Londyn, this one’s for you.

    Now the fun part.

    Once Claude gets it, I create a new branch (a safe little sandbox) and let him code.

    Sometimes it’s spot-on. Sometimes it’s chaos. Either way, the idea is alive now.

    When that first feature runs clean? Best feeling. Like the first smooth line on a blank page. You can feel the thing becoming real.

  • Don’t Let AI Start Until It Understands

    Series: Vibe Coding with Uncle Forrest* — Hey Londyn, this one’s for you.

    Rule I live by: don’t let AI start until it truly understands the plan.

    I make Claude read everything in /docs, then I say:

    “What don’t you understand?”

    He shoots back 10–20 questions. I answer. He asks more. We loop until there are no questions left.

    The faster you start, the slower you finish. Clarity is speed. Remember the LEGO castle we tried without instructions? Exactly.

  • Meet My AI Friends

    Series: Vibe Coding with Uncle Forrest* — Hey Londyn, this one’s for you.

    Okay, meet the crew:

    • Claude — the architect who asks the deep questions. Overly polite. Scary smart.
    • Cursor — my builder buddy in the editor. Reads every file. Catches my lazy mistakes.
    • Windsurf — the critic. The art teacher who says, “Good, but do it right.”

    When people say AI replaces humans, they’re missing the point. AI is a mirror. It reflects how clearly you think.

    We collaborate. I explain. They ask. I refine. Together, we build better than I could alone.

  • Breaking the Mountain Into Rocks

    Series: Vibe Coding with Uncle Forrest* — Hey Londyn, this one’s for you.

    Big ideas are mountains. You climb them by phases — not vibes alone.

    From overview.md, I split the work:

    • phase-1.md → “Make it run.”
    • phase-2.md → “Make it feel good.”
    • phase-3.md → “Make it smart.”

    We don’t bake cookies, brownies, and cupcakes at the same time anymore, right? (We tried. Disaster. Hilarious. Never again.)

    This is how I protect momentum. Smaller steps. Clear wins. Less panic. More progress.

  • Why Planning Is the First Line of Code

    Series: Vibe Coding with Uncle Forrest* — Hey Londyn, this one’s for you.

    You know how your drawings get way better when you tell me the story first? Same move here.

    When I write overview.md, I’m basically talking to myself:

    “Okay Forrest, what are we making? Why? Who’s it for? What won’t we do yet?”

    Before code comes thought. Before thought comes story.

    And AI listens better when you are clear. That’s why the first line of code is actually your first sentence about the code.

    Tiny habit: I write the goal, constraints, and success criteria in plain English. Then the code almost writes itself. Almost. 😄

  • Creating Order Before Chaos

    Series: Vibe Coding with Uncle Forrest* — Hey Londyn, this one’s for you.

    Hey Londs,

    Remember when you tried to make those bracelets and the beads were everywhere and I said, “Slow down — we don’t create until we clear the workspace”? This is that — but for code.

    Every time I start building something with AI, I don’t touch code first. I build order.

    I make a folder called /docs.

    Inside it, three subfolders:

    • planning/ (where ideas go before they’re real)
    • to-do/ (what I’m building now)
    • done/ (what’s finished and proud)

    Then I add overview.md — the quick map of what this whole thing means.

    It’s not boring. It’s discipline disguised as calm. Even grown-up engineers forget that building starts before building.

    Why this matters for you: You don’t build the castle by throwing bricks. You lay the ground, then you stack—clean and steady. That’s all this is.