Vibe-coded apps don't survive their first handoff

AI can write code that runs on your laptop — it doesn't automatically write code another human can maintain.

Here's the classic handoff scene: a founder builds an app with AI, and it works. They hire a developer to keep it running. What does this function do? No answer. Where's the documentation? No answer. Any tests? No answer. Deploy process? "I just run this script I found on Stack Overflow." Everyone loses — the developer quits on the spot or charges hazard pay, because none of it is workable as-is.

The code isn't wrong; it runs fine. The problem is that nobody except the person who prompted it understands why it exists — functions doing ten things at once, variable names that mean nothing, architecture decisions with no explanation anywhere. Code like that dies the moment its author steps away.

Two checks from this doctrine

Real value, not a teaser — two of the 5 checks in full. The rest are in the one-pager.

If it can't survive you handing it to someone else, it isn't finished — it's just running.