Plan AY: From Vibe Prototype to Viable Product — Pre-Launch Polish Checklist
Lock down requirements → make it testable → error handling → performance → maintainability → documentation
- Time
- 0.5-2 days
- Cost
- Medium
- Difficulty
- Advanced
Best for
Steps
Lock down requirements & acceptance criteria
30-60 minClaude Code + you
Define what 'it works' means as verifiable acceptance criteria: the core paths, edge behaviors, and what must be handled versus deferred — so polishing doesn't go off the rails. Write out 'when X happens, then Y' cases as the bar for every round of changes.
💡A 'not in scope' list matters just as much; bounding the scope is how you keep effort on the critical paths.
Make the code testable
1-2 hoursTest framework + Claude Code
Add unit tests for critical logic and end-to-end tests for critical paths, so later changes stay regression-safe. Start with the logic most likely to break (data handling, state transitions, external dependencies), then cover the core user flows.
💡Drive real user paths with Playwright instead of clicking ten times by hand; make the suite reliably green before chasing coverage.
Error handling & edge cases
1-3 hoursClaude Code + Playwright
Handle empty states, failure states and invalid inputs one by one so you never show a blank screen or crash; write error messages for the user, not raw stack traces. Timeouts, abnormal API responses and missing data — things that never happen in 'normal' runs — are the most common failure points in production.
💡Use Playwright to simulate offline, slow responses and empty data to reproduce failure states; every error path needs a visible fallback message.
Performance & experience
1-3 hoursBrowser DevTools + Claude Code
Use the DevTools Performance and Network panels to find load, interaction and response-time bottlenecks; optimize the slow parts first and avoid over-optimizing. Usually 80% of the gain comes from a few spots: big first-screen requests, uncached resources and render blocking.
💡Measure before you act and record before/after numbers; set a 'good enough' target (e.g. first screen under 3 seconds) and stop once you hit it.
Maintainability
1-2 hoursClaude Code
Unify naming, split oversized functions and files, add types and delete dead code so the project can be handed to someone else — or to you in three months. The temporary hacks and hardcoding from the vibe-coding phase get settled back into place here.
💡Have the AI do a 'readability pass' and confirm each change; keep commits small so everything stays reversible.
Documentation & handoff notes
30-60 minClaude Code
Write down how to run it, environment variables, deployment steps, known issues and limitations — a README or handoff doc anyone can follow. Don't expect someone (or future you) to guess the startup command and prerequisites from the code.
💡Run the full 'clone to launch' sequence once and record it; every command that appears in the docs must actually work.
Tools involved
Pitfalls to avoid
Treating a working prototype as done
Polishing without tests
Ignoring performance & edge cases
No documentation, no handoff
Related Workflows
Plan G: AI Coding Workflow (Requirements to Delivery)
Clarify requirements → technical plan → scaffold → incremental coding → test & debug → review & commit
- Time：
- 1-4 hours / feature
- Cost：
- Medium
- Difficulty：
- Advanced
Plan AX: Context Engineering — Feed the Right Context, Get It Right the First Time
Document project memory → spec first → give enough relevant files → iterative feedback → verify & commit
- Time：
- 1-3 hours / task
- Cost：
- Low
- Difficulty：
- Advanced
Plan AZ: AI Coding Security & Testing Checkup — Mandatory Before Shipping
Input validation → secret management → dependency audit → automated tests → review checklist
- Time：
- 1-2 hours / delivery
- Cost：
- Low
- Difficulty：
- Advanced