In short: AI tools make it quick to build a working website or app. Getting it live, keeping it safe and making it last takes engineering. If you’ve built something and you’re not sure what to do next, a rescue engineer can review it and tell you what it needs.
We keep having the same conversation. Someone has built a website, app or internal tool with an AI coding assistant such as Cursor, Lovable, Replit or Claude Code. It works on their laptop. Then come two questions: how do we actually deploy it, and how do we know it’s safe?
What is vibe coding?
Vibe coding means building software by describing what you want to an AI tool and accepting the code it writes, often without reading it line by line. The term was coined by AI researcher Andrej Karpathy in February 2025. It’s a fast way to prove an idea, and plenty of good products start that way.
What is vibe code rescue?
Vibe code rescue is when experienced developers take over an AI-built project and make it secure, stable and ready for real users. The people who do it are sometimes called rescue engineers. Demand for the work has grown quickly as more businesses build their own tools with AI.
How do you deploy a vibe-coded app?
To deploy a vibe-coded app, you need somewhere to host it, a safe place for its passwords and keys, and a way to deploy changes without breaking it for your users. The right setup depends on what you’ve built. A simple website needs much less than an app with logins, payments or a database.
Before anything goes live, we’d want answers to these questions:
- Where will it run, and who pays for and manages that hosting?
- Where are the passwords and API keys kept? They should never sit in the code itself.
- Is there a test copy (staging) where changes are checked before they reach live users?
- Is the database backed up, and has anyone tried restoring a backup?
- Will you know when something breaks, or will a customer tell you first?
- Who fixes it if it breaks at the weekend?
If most of those don’t have an answer yet, the app isn’t ready to launch.
How do you know if vibe-coded software is safe?
You can’t tell by using it. An app can work perfectly and still leak data. In Veracode’s 2026 GenAI Code Security Report, AI-generated code passed security tests only 56% of the time across more than 100 AI models. That figure had barely changed since the year before.
The only reliable way to know is for someone who understands security to review the code and how it’s set up. We check who can see what, how logins work, where data is stored, and whether personal data is handled in line with UK GDPR.
Common pitfalls of vibe coding
These are the problems we see most often in AI-built projects:
- Secret keys written into the code, sometimes pushed to a public GitHub repository.
- Database security rules switched off or left at their defaults, so anyone with the address can read the data.
- Logins that hide pages on screen but don’t stop someone requesting the data directly.
- One user able to see another user’s records by changing a number in the web address.
- Packages the AI suggested that are out of date, unmaintained or, occasionally, don’t exist.
- No staging copy, so every change is tested on real users.
- No backups and no error logging.
- Code nobody fully understands, so each new prompt fixes one thing and breaks another.
- An app that’s fine with ten users and slows down or falls over with a thousand.
- Cookie banners and privacy policies that look right but don’t do what they say.
Most of these don’t show up in a demo, so they’re often found only after launch.
What we learnt building our own platform
We vibe coded the first version of our own client platform. AI tools let us prove the idea quickly and get something in front of clients for feedback. It took a few weeks of my time, a few late night sessions with FigmaMake and Lovable, and then we put something in front of the team. The concept was proven.
Then we brought in our developers to build it properly. They restructured the code, secured it and set it up to scale, so it’s ready for the next stage of the business. We got our own platform live within 3 months of the build starting, and mind you, that wasn’t even full time development, our team were busy prioritising our clients needs. In reality, what would have taken years, took us a matter of days.
That’s the approach we recommend to anyone. Use AI to get to a working version fast. Then have engineers make it something you’d trust with your customers’ data.
How we can help
Tell us what you’re working on. Send us a link or a short description, and ask us anything about deploying it, securing it or what to do next. We’ll tell you plainly what it needs.
If you want a full picture, our rescue engineers can audit your project. Our Vibe Rescue Audit covers security, deployment, code structure and data protection. You get a written report setting out what’s wrong, what to fix first and what it’s likely to cost.
From there, we can fix it, deploy it and look after it, or hand the report to your own team.
Sources: SD Times: Veracode 2026 GenAI Code Security Report · Gizmodo: coders are being hired to fix vibe-coded screwups
Frequently asked questions
What is vibe code rescue?
Vibe code rescue is when experienced developers take over a website or app built with AI tools and make it secure, stable and ready for real users. It usually starts with an audit of the code and setup, followed by fixes, a proper deployment and ongoing maintenance.
What is a rescue engineer?
A rescue engineer is a developer who specialises in fixing and finishing projects that were built quickly, often with AI coding tools. They review the code, find security and stability problems, explain what needs fixing first, and then either make the fixes or guide your own team through them.
Is vibe-coded software safe to launch?
Not without a review. AI-generated code often works but contains security flaws you can’t see by using it. In Veracode’s 2026 report, AI-generated code passed security tests only 56% of the time. Have someone check logins, data access, secret keys and data protection before real users arrive.
How do I deploy an app I built with AI?
You need hosting suited to what you’ve built, a secure place for passwords and API keys, a staging copy for testing changes, database backups and error monitoring. A simple site can be live in a day. An app with logins or payments needs more care, so get it reviewed first.
Should I fix my vibe-coded app or start again?
It depends on how it’s built. Many AI-built projects have a sound idea and a usable front end, with problems concentrated in security, data and structure. An audit tells you which parts are worth keeping, which need rebuilding, and what each option is likely to cost.
How much does a vibe code audit cost?
That really depends on the complexity of what you built and your expected scope of work. You get a written report covering security, deployment, code structure and data protection, with the problems ranked by urgency and an estimate for fixing them.