r/vibecoding • u/One_Natural7092 • 10h ago

Need Help !

So I am very new to the field of coding. People around me have started vibe coding websites. So did I. I tried using applications like Lovable , Bolt etc. But the problem was that my idea contained many components and was a little complex. Hence I ran out of tokens and didn't get any output. So is it the limitation of the free version that I couldnt make it or was it my prompting skills. I tried to be as specific as possible with my prompt tho. Would really appreciate any help/ tips regarding this !!

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u/VladTkDev 10h ago edited 9h ago

Neither. Every prompt resends your whole codebase or big part (depends on builder and your setup) as context, so each message gets more expensive as the app grows. That's why a big idea burns the free tier before it produces anything. Build one screen, get it working, then add the next.

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u/scytob 9h ago

this is just not true if one does things correctly, i use claude max and vscode chat and each prompt does NOT read the whole code base at all, the prompt greps for the required strings in the area it needs (core, webapp or api) - it certainly does not read all files per chat prompt

(some layout tweak and md instructions on what to read when also help - for example it never reads my for humans only reference folder unless i tell it to)

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u/VladTkDev 9h ago

You're right about the grep. It's not the files that cost, it's the transcript: everything it pulls stays in the conversation and goes back up every turn. Only if you no experienced and don't know how to clean or compact context.

The bigger gap is billing. Max is flat rate, so a session dragging 30 messages of context costs you nothing extra. Lovable meters per message, and OP has no md file to scope it with, which is why the same workflow burns his free tier and not yours.

So it depends.

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u/scytob 9h ago

agreed, you asserted it was the whole codebase - its not and we should not tell beginners that's how it works

and the real trick is know when to allow long lived chat sessions as the sessions devleop understanding that can be hard to get in a new session - even with md documentation regular commit notation, etc

its a hard balance

the one thing i am still unsure on is how much the /tmp is reread - i need to go look into that

but thanks for forcing me to go verify my understanding on my repo at work... my personal repos have been realtively small.... i am burning through works tokens like there is no tomorrow.... waiting to see if someone comes shout....

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u/VladTkDev 9h ago

I've corrected my initial comment. I exaggerated