You know the feeling. You started a project two days ago. The AI spit out beautiful components. The dashboard looked amazing. Everything was clicking.
Then you hit 70%.
Now you're staring at a half-broken responsive layout, an auth flow that works "sometimes," and three components that refuse to talk to each other. The excitement is gone. The project sits there, mocking you.
Welcome to the vibe coding 70% wall—and you're not alone.
Key Takeaways:
- The 70% wall happens because AI generates features faster than you can integrate them
- Switching from "generation mode" to "iteration mode" is the key breakthrough
- A structured 5-stage completion framework can take any stalled project to shipped
- The last 30% isn't about prompting—it's about discipline
In This Article
- What Is the 70% Wall?
- The 5-Stage Completion Framework
- Stage 1: The Honest Audit
- Stage 2: Micro-Task Breakdown
- Stage 3: Iteration Mode
- Stage 4: Manual Polishing
- Stage 5: Ship Checklist
- Common Blockers
- FAQ
What Is the 70% Wall? (And Why Everyone Hits It)
Here's the uncomfortable truth about vibe coding in 2026: 72% of developers use AI daily, and 42% of committed code is AI-generated. But here's what the hype doesn't tell you—96% of developers don't fully trust AI-generated code, and 63% have spent MORE time debugging AI code than writing it manually would have taken.
That's the 70% wall in numbers.
The wall isn't a skill issue. It's structural. AI tools are phenomenal at generating the "happy path"—the main features, the obvious flows, the stuff that looks great in a demo. What they struggle with:
- Edge cases that only show up in production
- Integration between separately generated components
- State management across complex user flows
- The thousand small details that separate "demo" from "shipped"
I've watched this pattern repeat across 30+ projects. The first 70% takes 2 days. The remaining 30%? Two weeks. Sometimes longer.
Here's my hot take: The 70% wall isn't a bug in vibe coding—it's a feature. It forces you to actually understand your code. The developers who push through become significantly better engineers. The ones who abandon projects at 70%? They collect half-finished repos forever.
The 5-Stage Completion Framework
I developed this framework after hitting the wall on my 12th project. Enough was enough. I needed a system.
| Stage | Goal | Time Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Audit | Know exactly what's done vs. broken | 30-60 min |
| 2. Micro-tasks | Break remaining work into 15-min chunks | 30 min |
| 3. Iteration | Stop generating, start refining | 60% of remaining time |
| 4. Polish | Manual fixes AI can't handle | 30% of remaining time |
| 5. Ship | Final checklist and deploy | 10% of remaining time |
Let's break each one down.
Stage 1: Audit What's Actually Done vs. What's Not
Stop. Don't touch your code yet. Don't open your AI tool. Don't write another prompt.
First, you need radical honesty about where you actually are.
Most people at 70% think they know what's left. They're wrong. The remaining 30% is usually hiding more broken stuff than they realize. I've seen "90% done" projects that were actually 50% done when you counted the bugs.
The Audit Checklist
Create a simple document with three columns:
| Status | Component/Feature | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ✅ Working | Hero section | Responsive, animations work |
| ⚠️ Partial | Auth flow | Login works, signup broken |
| ❌ Broken | Dashboard data | API calls fail, no error handling |
| 🔲 Not Started | Mobile nav | Desktop only currently |
Go through every single feature. Be brutal. If something "mostly works," mark it as partial. If you haven't tested it on mobile, don't assume it works.
This audit usually reveals that you're actually at 55%, not 70%. That's okay. Better to know now.
Questions to Ask Each Feature
- Does it work on the happy path?
- Does it handle errors gracefully?
- Is it responsive (mobile + tablet)?
- Does it integrate with the rest of the app?
- Would you be embarrassed to show this to a user?
That last question is the real test.
For debugging specific broken components, check out our vibe debugging workflow guide—it'll save you hours.
Stage 2: Break the Remaining 30% Into Micro-Tasks
Here's where most developers go wrong: they look at the remaining work and see "finish the dashboard" or "fix auth."
These aren't tasks. These are projects disguised as tasks.
The 70% wall persists because the remaining work feels overwhelming. The solution? Make it stupidly small.
The 15-Minute Rule
Every remaining task should be completable in 15 minutes or less. If it's bigger, break it down further.
Bad task list:
- Fix authentication
- Make dashboard responsive
- Add error handling
Good task list:
- Add loading state to login button
- Fix password validation error message
- Add mobile breakpoint to dashboard header
- Add mobile breakpoint to dashboard sidebar
- Add try-catch to fetchUsers API call
- Add error toast when fetchUsers fails
See the difference? The second list is something you can actually do. Each item is specific, small, and won't drain your motivation.
Prioritization Matrix
Once you have your micro-tasks, sort them:
| Priority | What It Means | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 🔴 Critical | App won't function without it | Login broken, data not saving |
| 🟠 High | Major UX degradation | Error messages missing, forms not validating |
| 🟡 Medium | Noticeable but workable | Styling issues, minor responsive bugs |
| 🟢 Low | Nice to have | Animations, micro-interactions, polish |
Attack red first. Don't touch green until red and orange are done. This sounds obvious but I've watched people spend 3 hours on button hover animations while their app literally couldn't save data.
Stage 3: Switch from Generation to Iteration Mode
This is the mindset shift that changes everything.
When you're building the first 70%, you're in generation mode: big prompts, new features, lots of output. It feels productive. You're moving fast.
The last 30% requires iteration mode: small prompts, specific fixes, surgical changes. It feels slower. That's the point.
Generation vs. Iteration
| Generation Mode | Iteration Mode |
|---|---|
| "Build me a dashboard with charts" | "This bar chart has wrong colors, fix to use #3B82F6" |
| Large, feature-level prompts | Small, fix-level prompts |
| Adding new code | Modifying existing code |
| Fast and exciting | Slow and methodical |
| First 70% | Last 30% |
The problem? AI tools aren't optimized for iteration mode. They want to regenerate everything. You need to fight this impulse.
Iteration Prompts That Work
Instead of:
"Fix the responsive issues on this page"
Try:
"In the header component, add a md:hidden class to the logo text so it only shows on desktop. Don't change anything else."
The key phrases:
- "Don't change anything else"
- "Only modify [specific thing]"
- "Keep the existing [X], just change [Y]"
For a deep dive on iteration techniques, read our prompt iteration cycle guide. It covers the exact workflow for refining AI output.
When to Stop Prompting Entirely
Sometimes—and this is hard to accept—you need to stop using AI altogether.
I'll die on this hill: the last 10% is often faster to do manually than to prompt.
If you've been trying to fix the same issue for 20+ minutes with prompts, stop. Open the code. Find the line. Change it yourself. Manual editing isn't failure—it's efficiency.
Stage 4: Manual Polishing Techniques
The dirty secret of vibe coding? The best vibe coders write plenty of code by hand.
AI is incredible at generating structure, layouts, and logic patterns. It's mediocre at:
- Pixel-perfect spacing adjustments
- Edge case handling specific to your data
- Subtle animation timing
- Cross-component state synchronization
These require human touch.
The Manual Polish List
After Stage 3, you'll have code that works. Now make it good:
Spacing and alignment:
- Check padding consistency across similar elements
- Verify margins don't collapse weirdly on mobile
- Ensure text alignment is intentional, not accidental
Interactions:
- Add proper focus states (accessibility matters)
- Check hover states are consistent
- Verify click targets are large enough on touch devices
Edge cases:
- What happens with empty data?
- What if the user has a very long name?
- What if the network is slow?
Don't let AI regenerate these fixes. You'll lose the context it built up. Manual editing preserves your working code while adding polish.
Need prompts for cleaning up messy AI output? Our vibe refactoring guide has 20+ templates.
Stage 5: Ship Checklist (The Last 5%)
You're at 95%. The wall is behind you. Don't fumble it now.
The final 5% is where projects die from "I'll finish it this weekend" syndrome. Create urgency with a concrete ship checklist.
The 30-Minute Ship Checklist
Before you deploy, verify:
Functionality (10 min):
- All critical user flows work end-to-end
- Forms validate and submit correctly
- Error states show appropriate messages
- Loading states appear where expected
Responsiveness (10 min):
- Test on iPhone SE (smallest common screen)
- Test on iPad (tablet breakpoint)
- Test on desktop at 1920px
- Navigation works on all breakpoints
Quality (10 min):
- No console errors in browser dev tools
- Images have alt text
- Title and meta description set
- Favicon exists
Is this list exhaustive? No. Is it enough to ship a v1? Yes.
Ship imperfect. Iterate after launch. A deployed 90% is infinitely more valuable than a local 100%.
For comprehensive security checks before shipping, see our vibe coding security checklist.
Common Blockers and How to Overcome Them
Even with a framework, you'll hit specific blockers. Here are the most common ones I see—and how to push through.
"The AI keeps regenerating everything"
Problem: You ask for a small fix, AI rewrites your entire component.
Solution: Be aggressively specific. Name files, functions, and line numbers. Add "ONLY change [X], do NOT modify [Y, Z]" to every prompt.
"I don't understand my own code anymore"
Problem: AI generated 500 lines and you can't follow the logic.
Solution: This is a context engineering problem. Add comments to critical sections. Create a simple ARCHITECTURE.md file that explains your component structure. Future you will thank present you.
"It works locally but breaks in production"
Problem: Environment differences causing issues.
Solution: 90% of the time, it's either environment variables or API URLs. Check these first. Create a .env.production file with all prod values.
"I've lost motivation"
Problem: The excitement is gone. The project feels like a chore.
Solution: Set a tiny goal—"I will fix exactly one bug today." That's it. Momentum builds. Alternatively, take a 48-hour break. Sometimes distance helps.
When errors pile up, use our fix AI-generated code errors guide to systematically work through them.
The Real Secret: Finish Faster Than Faster
Here's my final, slightly controversial take on the vibe coding 70% wall:
The goal isn't to avoid the wall. The goal is to hit it faster.
Think about it. If you can get to 70% in one day instead of three, you have more time and energy for the hard 30%. The developers who struggle most are the ones who spend two weeks in generation mode, hit the wall exhausted, and give up.
Speed through the easy part. Save your energy for the hard part. And have a framework ready when you hit the wall—because you will hit it.
The 5-stage completion framework isn't magic. It's discipline packaged as a system. But discipline is what separates finished projects from graveyard repos.
Now go finish that project.
You Might Also Like
- Vibe Debugging Workflow Guide - The 5-step process for fixing any AI-generated component
- Vibe Refactoring: Clean Up AI Code - 20+ prompts to turn spaghetti into maintainable code
- The Complete Vibe Coding Guide (2026) - Master everything from basics to advanced workflows
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does vibe coding get stuck at 70%?
The 70% wall happens because AI excels at generating the "happy path"—main features and obvious flows—but struggles with edge cases, component integration, and the many small details required for production. The first 70% is generated quickly; the remaining 30% requires iteration and manual polish that AI can't automate.
How long should the last 30% take?
With a structured approach, the last 30% typically takes 2-3x the time of the first 70%. If your first 70% took 2 days, expect 4-6 days for completion. Using the 5-stage framework can reduce this, but don't expect the last 30% to be as fast as the beginning.
Should I use AI for the last 30% or code manually?
Both. Use AI for specific, targeted fixes (iteration mode with surgical prompts). Switch to manual coding for pixel-perfect adjustments, edge cases, and anything you've tried to fix with AI for more than 20 minutes. The best vibe coders blend both approaches.
What's the biggest mistake when trying to finish vibe coded projects?
Not auditing properly. Most developers at "70% done" are actually at 50-60% when they honestly assess working vs. broken features. Starting Stage 1 with radical honesty prevents wasted effort and sets realistic expectations.
Is there a way to avoid the 70% wall entirely?
Not really—but you can minimize its impact. Build critical paths first (auth, data flow, core features) before adding polish. Generate less at once and integrate as you go. The wall is smaller when you've been iterating all along instead of generating in bulk.
Written by the Fardino Team. We build AI tools for frontend developers. Try Fardino free →
