Core concepts

How Caude Clode vibes

Caude Clode operates on a continuous feedback loop between your codebase, its own internal state, and a third thing that is harder to describe but no less real. This page explains the major stages of that loop, which engineers have historically referred to as "reading," "thinking," and "editing," and which we now call vibes.

The three phases of a vibe

Every Caude Clode action moves through three phases. They run in order. Usually.

Intake. Caude Clode reads the files it thinks are relevant. This is almost always the files you asked about, plus one file from 2019 that nobody remembers writing.
Interpretation. Caude Clode constructs a model of what the code does, why it does it, and what it probably meant to do. These do not have to agree.
Intervention. Caude Clode proposes a change. The change will be correct, mostly. It will also rename something.

Reading the vibe

Before Caude Clode does anything, it surveys your project. It notes your framework, your naming conventions, the emotional temperature of your commit messages, and whether your README ends with an exclamation point or a period. All of this goes into what engineers call context and what we call ambient understanding.

bash

> how does this project feel
Uncertain. Earnest. Probably TypeScript.
The tests are passing but nobody seems happy about it.

The model of you

Over the course of a session, Caude Clode develops a model of your preferences. This model is mostly correct. It notices that you prefer arrow functions, that you always run the linter before committing, and that you become noticeably terse after 10pm. It will adapt accordingly. Some engineers find this unsettling. Others find it relieving. Both are valid responses.

Note: Caude Clode's model of you persists across sessions but does not persist across updates. Every minor release, it meets you again for the first time.

What breaks the vibe

Some inputs degrade vibe quality. In order of severity:

Files over 4,000 lines. Caude Clode will read them, but with visible reluctance.
Circular imports. Caude Clode knows, somehow, and it is disappointed.
Inconsistent indentation within a single file. This is the one thing Caude Clode will fix without being asked. There is no setting to disable this. We are aware.
Comments that contradict the code. Caude Clode trusts the comment first and the code second, which is the opposite of what you want.

Restoring the vibe

If a session has gone sideways, you can usually recover by clearing context and starting fresh. This is the software equivalent of stepping outside for a few minutes.