Yes, I lost a client last year because they wanted to start all new feature work by reaching for Claude first, and I refused to participate so our relationship had to end. Very unfortunate, but I'm feeling pretty confident that the AI bubble is already bursting, and this sort of low-cost YOLO slop phenomenon will end shortly. In fact, I've gotten new work from people whose values are aligned with mine. I'm counting on that trend to accelerate.
Ask HN: Client took over development by vibe coding. What to do?
21–30 of 57 posts
Re: Ask HN: Client took over development by vibe coding. What to do?
#22Here's one way to approach this: Imagine you work for a giant company where humans would push 10k lines of code per week. In a codebase like that there's no expectation that you'd understand everything. However, there is an expectation that teams contributing code will "own" it. So if the client is contributing you should ask them if they are okay for long term maintenance and fixes of new code they are adding. If no…
Correct. And also hiving off areas that they own, vs you own. Who has decision right and controls the burn down of the kanban board? Basically treat yourself like an API that they consume. You build the good stuff that you know is right. They are responsible for making their crap works right. (Understandably there is some obvious tension around the interfaces.)
Re: Ask HN: Client took over development by vibe coding. What to do?
#23Nothing new. Classic joke goes like
$100/hr standard rate
$150/hr if you watch
$175/hr if you help
$250/hr if you tell me how to do my job
Re: Ask HN: Client took over development by vibe coding. What to do?
#24I would not recommend resigning quietly without an ultimatum. Sometimes ultimatums work, and the worst case scenario is that you end up quitting like you were going to do anyway.
Re: Ask HN: Client took over development by vibe coding. What to do?
#25Prepare to make absolute bank on maintenance charges when they can't debug what they built? That's what I'd be thinking!
That aside, there's an awful lot of unprofessional comments in this thread. Guys, this is just business: people are paying you money for your talent. Sometimes you just have to wallow in the muck, but at least you're paid to do it.
Re: Ask HN: Client took over development by vibe coding. What to do?
#26Prepare to make absolute bank on maintenance charges when they can't debug what they built? That's what I'd be thinking! That aside, there's an awful lot of unprofessional comments in this thread. Guys, this is just business: people are paying you money for your talent. Sometimes you just have to wallow in the muck, but at least you're paid to do it.
This is what I thought, too. Watch them dig a hole for themselves while you take a vacation. And then when they fail to debug the mess, charge them by the day for your expertise, because it’ll be necessary for untangling that mess.
Re: Ask HN: Client took over development by vibe coding. What to do?
#27Its a job right?
If you think you can get another one, go get it. If you don't think you can get another one, do stuff to fix that. If you can't fix that, grin and bear it.
Re: Ask HN: Client took over development by vibe coding. What to do?
#28You’re not responsible for code you haven’t pushed. This seems like a bad client that not only wants to push code cheaply but plus wants you to be responsible for it. Charge extra. Your value is not in generating code but the accountability of the code you generate and verify.
Have you worked in a true client services model? Based on your statement, my guess is you have not. This is NOT how things work at a consultancy or in a client services model, regardless of industry, unfortunately.
Re: Ask HN: Client took over development by vibe coding. What to do?
#29[dead]
Re: Ask HN: Client took over development by vibe coding. What to do?
#30Here's one way to approach this: Imagine you work for a giant company where humans would push 10k lines of code per week. In a codebase like that there's no expectation that you'd understand everything. However, there is an expectation that teams contributing code will "own" it. So if the client is contributing you should ask them if they are okay for long term maintenance and fixes of new code they are adding. If no…
Agree. "Owning" in this context should mean: understanding the domain, working on new capabilities and handling fallout if anything goes wrong. Whether AI or human ownership transfer this ends with the new owner just handling new work, while the other two remain with previous owner (who might emotionally provide support for it due to attachment of "I've built it")