Prompt Drift: When Your AI Forgets the Plan
You start a session to fix onboarding, and somehow you end up with a new color scheme, a different dashboard, and the same bug still in place. That is prompt drift: the slow slide away from the goal you set, caused by vague instructions, long sessions, or context that gets lost between changes. It wastes energy and delays the moment when users can finally try the product.
How prompt drift shows up
The first sign is repetition. You keep re‑explaining what you already decided: which page is the home, which fields are required, which actions are for admins only. Then come the surprises—navigation labels change, a form moves to a new route, or an old issue returns after you thought it was fixed. The app looks fresh but not closer to launch.
Why vibe‑coding is vulnerable to drift
Vibe‑coding and AI‑first development rely on natural‑language prompts, which makes them accessible and fast. The downside is that words can be slippery. If you say “make it simpler,” the AI must guess what to remove. If you list five requests at once, it may satisfy three and quietly adjust two more you never mentioned. Over time, the project loses its anchor.
Anchor the work with a one‑page plan
You do not need a heavy spec. You need a single page that states the current truth of the product. Keep it short, readable, and always within reach while you prompt.
- Who the user is and what they are trying to do
- Which screen they land on first and what success looks like
- The minimum fields for sign‑up and the roles that exist
- Non‑negotiables like required authentication or data limits
Read these lines at the start of each session, and paste the most relevant parts into your first prompt. It keeps the AI aligned and reminds you what “done” means today.
Write prompts that hold a steady course
Prompt drift often fades when your language becomes specific. Name the exact screen, the action a person should take, and the immediate result they should see. Ask for small, reviewable changes and call out areas that must remain untouched.
Examples that work well:
- On the Sign Up page, show one clear error under the email field when it’s invalid. Do not change styles or copy elsewhere.
- After a successful sign‑up, go to /dashboard and show “Welcome back, {name}“. Leave the navigation as‑is.
- Add a Cancel button to the Edit Profile modal that closes the modal with no side effects.
Short sessions beat marathon edits
Long sessions invite drift because the AI carries a lot of context that can blur. Shorten your cycles: one prompt, one change, one click‑through. If things feel off or the conversation loses the thread, refresh the session and restate the plan from your one‑pager. Treat it like a new day on the same roadmap.
Measure progress by user outcomes
The best cure for drift is a clear, testable outcome. Can a new user sign up and reach the dashboard? Can an existing user edit a record and see it update? If the answer is no, you have not shipped, no matter how fresh the UI looks. If the answer is yes, move to the next outcome and keep the momentum.
Prompt drift is frustrating because it feels like the work is moving, yet nothing lands. With a one‑page plan, concrete prompts, and short cycles, you can keep AI app generation on track and guide your vibe‑coded app toward real users and real learning.
If drift has already pulled your product off course and you need a steady hand, Spin by fryga can step in as a rescue consultancy to reset the plan, align decisions, and help you ship with confidence.