Attendee setup guide

Beyond Vibe Coding

From prototyping to shipping like an engineer · Chris Parsons

Please finish these five checks before the workshop. Bring the laptop and charger you will use. You need permission to install software. If IT locks down your work laptop, bring a personal one.

1Open a terminal

Mac or Linux: use your normal Terminal.

Windows: open PowerShell as administrator, run wsl --install, then restart. Open the new Ubuntu window and do every step below inside it.

Check: you can open Terminal or Ubuntu.

2Install Node.js

Install the current LTS version from nodejs.org. On Windows, install it inside Ubuntu. Then run:

node --version

Check: it prints a version number.

3Set up GitHub

Create a free account at github.com. Install the GitHub CLI from cli.github.com.

Run gh auth login, then gh auth status.

Check: gh auth status says you are logged in.

4Create a Vercel account

Hobby is for personal projects. At work, use your company's team plan.

Check: you can sign in at vercel.com with GitHub.

5Install one paid AI coding agent

Choose one and follow its installation guide. Company-managed accounts sometimes turn off command-line access, so test yours before the day.

Claude Code (recommended)
Needs a paid Claude plan, such as Pro or Max.
Installation guide

Codex CLI
Needs a paid ChatGPT plan, such as Plus or Pro.
Installation guide

Check: in an empty folder, start your agent and ask "What folder am I in?" It answers correctly.

Optional preparation

Bring a small feature idea for the last part. "A form that saves entries and shows them in a list" is about the right size. There is no required reading.

If setup gets stuck

Bring what you have and arrive a little early, so we can sort it out before we start. Pairing with another attendee is the fallback, and it works well.