
Stop Vibe Coding: Start Spec-Driven Development, with John Capobianco
About this episode
John Capobianco is back, and this time the two of us are sitting in Munich building a subnetting game from scratch, live, with spec-driven development.
I've been vibe coding automations for the show for about six months. Some of it works. A lot of it falls over, and I've spent too many late nights chasing bugs in software I couldn't rely on.
John wanted to show me a more structured way to build with an LLM: a constitution first, then a spec, then a clarify step where the model comes back with questions, then a plan, then the code.
Along the way we get into what a spec really is (closer to a network change plan than you'd think), why the tests get written and run without you asking, the token bill that caught John by surprise, and the CCNA study pain that nearly made both of us quit over subnetting. Eric Chou stops in partway through with his own take on why he doesn't get stuck anymore.
It's a real build, so it's messy in the good way.
John Capobianco: https://artofnetworkengineering.com/guests/john-capobianco
Eric Chou: https://artofnetworkengineering.com/guests/eric-chou
Spec Kit: https://github.com/github/spec-kit
NAF / AutoCon: https://networkautomation.forum/
For everything AONE: https://artofnetworkengineering.com/
Get every episode summarized
Each time The Art of Network Engineering publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
Hosts & guests
No transcript yet
This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.
More episodes
More from The Art of Network Engineering

500 Hours of Foosball, 20 Hours on Your Career | Mike Bushong on Staying Valuabl...
The Art of Network Engineering

Cursor for Network Engineers? Meet Transit AI (Sponsored)
The Art of Network Engineering

whoami: Network Engineering's Identity Crisis
The Art of Network Engineering

The Biggest Myth About Open Source
The Art of Network Engineering