How to Try Vibe Coding for Legal Work (Step-by-Step)
You have read about what vibe coding is. You have seen what other lawyers are building. Now you want to try it yourself.
Good. This guide walks you through your first vibe coding project, from picking the right problem to having a working tool. No fluff. No prerequisites. Just a clear path from "I want to try this" to "I built something that saves me time."
Budget about 3 to 4 hours for your first project. Some people finish in less. Some need a second session. Either is fine.
Before You Start: The Right Expectations
Let us be upfront about what your first project will look like.
It will not be beautiful. The interface will be basic. There will be rough edges. Some things will not work exactly how you imagined.
That is normal. Every first project looks like this. What matters is whether it saves you time on a task you do repeatedly. If it does, it is a success. You can improve it later.
Do not aim for perfection. Aim for "useful."
Step 1: Pick Your First Project
This is the most important step. The right first project sets you up for success. The wrong one leads to frustration.
Good first projects
Pick something that matches all three of these criteria:
It is repetitive. You do it at least once a week. The more often, the better. Frequency means you will actually use what you build, and you will notice quickly if it is working.
It is structured. The input and output are clear. You take data from one format and put it in another. You check a document for specific things. You calculate something based on known rules.
It is low stakes. If the tool makes a mistake, the consequence is minor. A formatting error in an internal report, not a missed compliance deadline.
Here are specific ideas:
- Contract data extraction. Take a stack of contracts and pull out party names, dates, and key terms into a spreadsheet.
- Weekly report formatting. Take raw data from your matter management system and format it into the report layout your boss likes.
- Simple intake form. Build a form that collects the information you always have to ask for when you get a contract request.
- Deadline calculator. Input a contract start date and term length, output key dates (expiration, renewal notice deadline, review period start).
- Email template generator. Input a few variables (counterparty name, contract type, deadline), generate a follow-up email from your standard template.
Projects to avoid for your first attempt
- Anything that connects to multiple external systems
- Anything that handles confidential client data
- Anything your team will rely on immediately
- Anything involving approval workflows
- Full contract management systems (seriously, use a platform for that)
How to pick
Ask yourself: "What did I do this week that felt mindless? Something where I knew exactly what needed to happen, but I still had to do it manually?"
That task is probably your best first project.
Step 2: Choose Your Tool
You do not need to agonize over this. Any of these tools will work for a first project. You can always switch later.
Option A: Replit (Recommended for beginners)
What it is: A browser-based coding environment with an AI assistant built in. You open it in Chrome, describe what you want, and it builds.
Why start here: No downloads. No setup. No installation. You sign up, describe your project, and start building immediately. It also hosts your tool for free, so you can share a link with colleagues.
Cost: Free tier is sufficient for a first project.
Best for: Web forms, dashboards, simple tools with a visual interface.
Option B: Claude or ChatGPT (Simplest approach)
What it is: The AI assistants you may already use. You describe what you want, and they write a script you can run.
Why start here: Zero learning curve if you already use one of these tools. Good for scripts that process files or data without needing a visual interface.
The catch: You need to run the code yourself. That means copying it to your computer and executing it. This involves a few extra steps (installing Python, running a command in Terminal), but the AI will walk you through those too.
Best for: Scripts that process documents, extract data, or generate files.
Option C: Cursor (Most powerful)
What it is: A code editor with deep AI integration. It looks like a traditional coding tool, but the AI writes most of the code.
Why start here: If you want maximum control and plan to build multiple tools, Cursor is the most capable option.
The catch: It has a steeper learning curve. There is more to understand about the interface. Not ideal for a first-time experience unless you are comfortable with technical tools.
Best for: More complex projects, or if you want to build a serious ongoing practice.
Option D: Bolt or Lovable (Fastest for web apps)
What it is: Tools that build and deploy web applications from descriptions. You describe your app, they build it, and it is live on the internet within minutes.
Why start here: If you want something visual (a form, a dashboard) and you want it deployed immediately.
Best for: Internal tools that need a web interface and sharable URL.
Our recommendation
For your very first project, use Replit if you want a visual tool or Claude if you want a data processing script. Both are free to start and require minimal setup.
Step 3: Describe Your Problem Clearly
This is where most people struggle. Not because the tools are hard, but because describing what you want precisely is harder than it sounds.
The AI is literal. It builds exactly what you describe. If your description is vague, the result will be wrong. If your description is specific, the result will be close to what you need.
The anatomy of a good description
A good first prompt includes four things:
1. What the tool does (the overview)
"Build a tool that takes a PDF contract and extracts key data points into a spreadsheet."
2. The specific inputs
"The input is a PDF file uploaded by the user. The contracts are standard vendor agreements, typically 5 to 15 pages."
3. The specific outputs
"The output should be an Excel spreadsheet with columns for: Party A name, Party B name, Effective date, Expiration date, Governing law, Total contract value, Auto-renewal (yes/no)."
4. Any rules or edge cases you know about
"If a field is not found in the contract, put 'Not found' in that cell instead of leaving it blank. Dates should be formatted as YYYY-MM-DD."
A complete example prompt
Here is a real prompt you could use for a contract data extraction project:
"Build a web application where I can upload a PDF contract and get back a structured summary. The application should extract: both party names, the effective date, the expiration or term end date, the governing law/jurisdiction, any payment amounts or fee schedules, and whether the contract has an auto-renewal clause.
Display the results on screen in a clean table format. Also give me a button to download the results as a CSV file.
If a field cannot be found in the document, show 'Not found' for that field. Format all dates as YYYY-MM-DD."
That is specific enough for the AI to build something useful on the first try.
Common mistakes in descriptions
Too vague: "Build me a contract tool." The AI does not know what kind of tool, what it should do, or what the output looks like.
Too ambitious: "Build a complete contract management system with user authentication, multi-party negotiation, approval workflows, and integration with Salesforce." That is a multi-year product, not a vibe coding project.
Missing the output: You describe what goes in but not what should come out. Always be explicit about what the result should look like.
Step 4: Build and Test the First Version
Now the fun part. Give your description to the AI and see what happens.
What to expect
The first version will usually be 60 to 80% of what you want. Some things will work perfectly. Others will be off.
That is fine. This is not a finished product. It is a starting point.
How to test
Use real data from your work. Not made-up examples. Real contracts, real reports, real inputs. This is the only way to know if the tool actually solves your problem.
Go through these checks:
- Does the basic function work? Feed it an input. Does the output make sense?
- Are the details right? Are dates formatted correctly? Are names extracted accurately? Are numbers right?
- What breaks? Try an unusual input. A contract with no expiration date. A document with poor formatting. See what happens.
Take notes on what needs to change
Be specific in your notes. Not "it does not work" but:
- "The date extraction misses dates formatted as 'January 1, 2026' and only catches '01/01/2026'"
- "The download button generates a CSV but the columns are in the wrong order"
- "It crashes when I upload a scanned PDF instead of a text-based one"
These specific observations become your instructions for the next round.
Step 5: Iterate Until It Works
Iteration is where vibe coding goes from "interesting experiment" to "useful tool." Most projects need 3 to 5 rounds of feedback before they are genuinely usable.
How to give good feedback
Take the specific notes from your testing and give them back to the AI as instructions.
"Three things to fix: 1. The date extraction only works for MM/DD/YYYY format. It needs to also handle written-out dates like 'January 15, 2026' and European format DD.MM.YYYY. 2. Move the 'Governing Law' column to be right after the party names. 3. When I upload a scanned PDF, it gives an error. Add OCR support or show a helpful error message saying the PDF needs to be text-based."
The more specific you are, the faster the AI fixes things.
When to keep going vs. when to stop
Keep going if: The core function works and you are fixing details. Each round of changes makes the tool noticeably better. You can see it becoming useful.
Stop and reconsider if: After 3 rounds, the fundamental approach is not working. You keep hitting the same problems. The project is expanding beyond your original scope. Read our guide on what works and what doesn't to calibrate.
The 80% rule
Your tool does not need to handle every possible scenario. If it handles 80% of your cases correctly and you manually handle the remaining 20%, you are still saving significant time.
A tool that works 80% of the time and saves you 4 hours a week is more valuable than a tool that works 100% of the time but takes 3 months to build.
Step 6: Validate and Start Using It
Before you rely on it, validate properly.
Validation checklist
- Test with at least 10 real-world inputs from your actual work
- Compare the tool's output against manual results for 5 of those inputs
- Try edge cases: empty fields, unusual formatting, very long documents, very short documents
- Confirm the tool handles errors gracefully (shows a helpful message instead of crashing)
- If the tool sends emails or notifications, verify they go to the right people
- If the tool stores data, verify you can retrieve it accurately
Start using it with a safety net
For the first two weeks, run the tool alongside your manual process. Use the tool's output but verify it manually. This builds confidence and catches any issues that did not show up in testing.
After two weeks of reliable performance, trust it for routine cases and spot-check periodically.
Share carefully
If colleagues want to use it:
- Show them how it works in person
- Be clear about what it does and does not handle
- Ask them to report any issues immediately
- Keep a simple log of problems that come up
Your First Project: A Complete Walkthrough
Let us put it all together with a concrete example.
The project: Contract renewal date tracker
You have 50 vendor contracts in a folder. You need to know which ones expire in the next 90 days so you can start renewal discussions.
The tool choice: Replit
Open Replit. Click "Create." Select the AI-assisted option.
The prompt
"Build a web application where I upload PDF contracts and it extracts renewal/expiration information. For each contract, extract: the vendor name (Party B or the counterparty), the contract effective date, the expiration date, the auto-renewal status (yes/no), and the notice period for termination.
Show the results in a sortable table. Highlight in yellow any contract expiring within 90 days. Highlight in red any contract expiring within 30 days. Add a download button for CSV export.
Handle errors gracefully. If a contract cannot be parsed, show it in the table with an 'Error: could not extract dates' message instead of crashing."
The iteration
Round 1: Basic extraction works but dates are inconsistent. Ask the AI to normalize all dates to YYYY-MM-DD.
Round 2: Auto-renewal detection is hit-or-miss. Provide examples of how auto-renewal clauses look in your contracts so the AI can improve detection.
Round 3: The table works but is ugly. Ask for cleaner formatting and the color highlighting you specified.
Round 4: CSV download works. Test with all 50 contracts. 45 extract perfectly. 5 need manual review. That is 90% automation.
Total time: About 3 hours
What Comes After Your First Project
Once you have one tool working, the mental model clicks. You start seeing opportunities everywhere.
Here is a reasonable pace:
Month 1: Build 1 to 2 simple tools. Get comfortable with the workflow.
Month 2: Build something slightly more complex. Maybe a tool that combines two data sources or has a more sophisticated interface.
Month 3: Evaluate. Which tools are you actually using? Which ones were not worth it? This tells you where to invest more time.
Do not try to automate everything. The most common mistake is building too much, too fast. Stay focused on tools that save real time on real problems.
Safety Reminders
Three things to keep in mind as you build:
Do not put client-confidential data into AI tools without checking your firm's policies. Most AI coding tools process your input on their servers. Know what is acceptable before you upload contracts.
Do not deploy vibe-coded tools externally. Keep them internal. AI-generated code may have security vulnerabilities that are not obvious. An internal tool used by your team is manageable. A public-facing tool is a liability.
Always verify AI-generated legal analysis. If your tool extracts or interprets contract terms, treat the output as a first draft that needs human review. AI is good at finding text in documents. It is less reliable at interpreting legal meaning.
The Bottom Line
Vibe coding is a skill you can learn in an afternoon and improve over months. The barrier to entry is lower than people think. The results are more useful than skeptics expect.
Start with one small project. Build it this weekend. See if it saves you time. If it does, build another one. If it does not, at least you know, and it only cost you a few hours.
The worst outcome is that you understand a technology that is reshaping how work gets done. The best outcome is that you start reclaiming hours every week from tasks that never needed your expertise in the first place.
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