What is Vibe Modeling?

Q: Is this the same as Jordi Cabot's vibe modeling?

Not exactly. Academic work like Jordi Cabot's uses vibe modeling for generating formal models with LLMs for downstream code generation. VibeModeling.app uses the term in a complementary practitioner sense: visual domain exploration for developers working with AI coding tools.

Vibe modeling is the practice of visually exploring domain events, system boundaries, and user flows with AI before writing code.

You put your domain on a board — the events, the flows, the boundaries between services — and an AI advisor helps you spot what's missing, surface patterns from Domain-Driven Design, and challenge your assumptions. You walk away with structured context: a shared understanding of your system that you can hand to any AI coding tool or share with your team.

It gives developers structured context and shared understanding, so vibe coding starts from a clear model instead of a vague prompt.

If you vibe code, vibe modeling is the step that makes the difference between shipping something that works and shipping something that lasts.

Why vibe modeling matters

Vibe coding is fast. You describe what you want, the AI generates code, you iterate until it works. For small projects, it's transformative.

The problem shows up at scale. When your system has multiple domains — users, payments, notifications, billing — vibe coding produces tangled code with hidden assumptions. The AI fills in architectural decisions you never made. Edge cases disappear into generated code that nobody reads carefully enough. And when something breaks, nobody can explain why the system is shaped the way it is.

Vibe modeling exists to close that gap. You explore the shape of your system visually, with AI helping you think — not write code. You find the missing events, the unclear boundaries, the implicit dependencies. Then when you start coding, every tool you use is working from a shared understanding of the domain.

Vibe modeling vs vibe coding

	Vibe modeling	Vibe coding
Goal	Understand the system shape	Generate working code
Medium	Visual board + AI conversation	Prompts + code editor
Output	Shared domain model, structured context	Code changes, features
Best time	Before implementation, during refactors	During implementation
Risk if skipped	Hidden boundaries, rework, misaligned teams	Slower implementation, less feedback velocity

Vibe coding is the vehicle. Vibe modeling is knowing where you're going before you start driving.

What vibe modeling is not

Before going deeper, it helps to clear up what vibe modeling isn't:

Not a compliance-heavy architecture review. There's no committee, no sign-off process, no 40-page spec. It's a developer thinking tool.
Not UML diagrams for the sake of documentation. The point is understanding, not artifacts. If the diagram helped you think, it did its job.
Not replacing coding. It makes coding better. Ten minutes on the board saves ten hours of refactoring.
Not delegating design decisions to AI. You drive, AI consults. Every decision stays with the developer.
Not limited to greenfield projects. Already built something and it's getting messy? Put it on the board. See where the real boundaries are.
Not "prompt engineering for architecture." The model lives on a visual board, not in a giant text prompt.
Not academic model-driven engineering. That's a related but different usage of the term (more on that below).

How vibe modeling works in practice

When a developer sits down to vibe model, they're doing something specific:

Putting domain events on a visual board. Not writing a spec. Not describing features in text. Placing sticky notes — "User Registered," "Payment Failed," "Invoice Generated" — and seeing how they relate to each other. This draws on event storming and Domain-Driven Design, adapted for AI-assisted development.

Exploring with AI, not delegating to AI. The AI sees your board and consults you. It asks "what happens when the payment fails twice?" It suggests "this looks like a separate bounded context." It surfaces patterns from Domain-Driven Design. But every decision stays with the developer. The AI is a consultant, not the architect. You drive, AI consults.

Drawing boundaries and flows. As you explore, the system reveals itself. Events cluster into bounded contexts. Flows connect causes to effects. Aggregate boundaries become visible on the canvas. You're not designing from a blank page — you're discovering the shape of your system through the conversation.

Walking away with transferable context. The model you've built isn't locked in a tool. It's structured context you can paste into Claude Code or Cursor to get dramatically better generated code. You can share it with a peer developer as a visual blueprint. The understanding goes wherever you need it.

Who is vibe modeling for?

Vibe modeling is for developers who build with AI and want to build things that last.

If you use Claude Code, Cursor, or Copilot — vibe modeling gives you structured context that makes your AI tools dramatically more effective. Instead of prompting from a vague idea, you're prompting from a shared domain model.

If you're starting a new project — vibe modeling helps you explore the domain before you write a line of code. Ten minutes on the board saves ten hours of refactoring.

If you've already built something with AI and it's getting messy — vibe modeling works in reverse too. Put what you've built on the board. See where the boundaries should be. Understand what you have before you try to change it.

If you practice Domain-Driven Design — vibe modeling brings domain events, bounded contexts, and aggregates into a visual, AI-enhanced workflow. The vocabulary is familiar. The tooling is modern.

Getting started

Open the board. Start with a blank canvas at vibemodeling.app/board.html.
Name your domain events. What happens in your system? User registered, order placed, payment processed — get them out of your head and onto sticky notes.
Let AI consult you. The AI sees your board and asks the questions you forgot. It surfaces patterns. It catches gaps. Have the conversation.
Draw boundaries. Group events that belong together. Name the bounded contexts. Connect the flows.
Take it into implementation. Bring your model into Claude Code, share it with your team, or use it as the foundation for your next sprint. Then start coding with confidence.

Want to try it now? Open the board and map your first 10 domain events.

FAQ

Vibe modeling is the practice of visually exploring domain events, system boundaries, and user flows with AI before writing code. You map what happens in your system on a collaborative board, with AI helping you spot missing pieces and surface patterns from Domain-Driven Design.

How is vibe modeling different from vibe coding?

Vibe coding is building software by talking to an AI that generates code. Vibe modeling is the step before that — you explore the shape of your system visually so that when you do start coding, every decision is informed and intentional. Vibe modeling makes vibe coding better.

Do I need to know Domain-Driven Design to use vibe modeling?

No. The AI brings the DDD knowledge — bounded contexts, aggregates, domain events. You bring your domain knowledge. The board is where they meet. You'll encounter DDD concepts naturally through the process and can go deeper as needed.

What tools do I need?

VibeModeling.app is a free, browser-based board. You don't need to install anything. After modeling, you can export your work to any AI coding tool (Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot).

Is vibe modeling only for new projects?

No. It works both directions. Starting something new? Model before you code. Already built something? Put it on the board to understand what you have and where the real complexity lives.

Can I use vibe modeling with my team?

Vibe modeling can be done collaboratively with your team. Use the board in team sessions to build shared understanding in hours instead of weeks.

Is this the same as Jordi Cabot's "vibe modeling"?

Not exactly. Academic work like Jordi Cabot's uses "vibe modeling" for generating formal models with LLMs for downstream code generation. VibeModeling.app uses the term in a complementary practitioner sense: visual domain exploration for developers working with AI coding tools.

If you want examples and walkthroughs, start with the blog. Popular posts include common vibe modeling challenges, a practical payment system walkthrough, and how to give AI better context with domain models.

Origin and terminology

There's also an academic usage of the term "vibe modeling," which is related but different.

The phrase "vibe modeling" has also been used in academic model-driven engineering research, notably by Jordi Cabot at the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, where LLMs generate formal models for downstream code generation. VibeModeling.app uses the term in a complementary practitioner sense: visual domain exploration for developers working with AI coding tools.

Both usages share a core insight — there should be a modeling step between your idea and your code. The academic approach focuses on generating formal UML-like models for automated code generation. The practitioner approach focuses on visual exploration that helps developers understand what they're building. Different audiences, complementary goals.