AI Coding in 2026: From Prompt to Production

A practical guide for working developers integrating AI agents into daily engineering in 2026. Covers what vibe coding actually is (and isn't) with the spectrum from throwaway prototypes to AI-orchestrated production engineering, why the 2026 model and tooling generation crossed the threshold, the current tool ecosystem (Cursor, Claude Code, Kiro, Antigravity, Windsurf, Copilot, plus full-app generators and autonomous agents), interaction modes (agent, plan, debug, ask), the disciplined Plan-Check-Refine-Build-Test-Commit loop, the shift from prompt engineering to context engineering, named prompt patterns that work, the workflow pitfalls that catch most developers, codebase understanding, performance optimization, AI-powered code review, agent skills, MCP, and a one-page cheat sheet.