# CodeLifter Forum

> CodeLifter Forum collects real questions and worked answers on vibe coding prompts, AI-generated code provenance, project AI policies and MCP tools.

Threads open with a short, self-contained answer, then the discussion. Posts marked Staff are written by the forum team and cite primary sources. Dates on every post are machine-readable. Each thread is also available as Markdown: replace the trailing slash of its URL with `.md`.

## [Vibe coding prompts](https://codelifter.com/forum/f/prompts/)
Prompts that keep producing bad code: innerHTML, missing keyboard support, extra libraries. Answers show the prompt line that fixes it.

- [Is ChatGPT an LLM, and which model does GitHub Copilot use?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/is-chatgpt-an-llm-and-which-model-does-github-copilot-use/): ChatGPT is not itself an LLM: it is OpenAI's chat app, built on OpenAI's GPT large language models.
- [What is an LLM, and how does it write code?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/what-is-an-llm-and-how-does-it-write-code/): An LLM (large language model) is a neural network trained on huge amounts of text to predict the next token, a small chunk of text.
- [How do you get a coding assistant to write accessible HTML forms?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/how-do-you-get-a-coding-assistant-to-write-accessible-html-forms/): Ask for the native HTML by name: a visible label element tied to each field through matching for and id values, fieldset and legend around grouped choices, the required attribute, autocomplete tokens,
- [What should go in an AGENTS.md or coding rules file?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/what-should-go-in-an-agentsmd-or-coding-rules-file/): An AGENTS.md file should hold what a coding agent cannot work out from your code: the exact build, test and lint commands, style rules that differ from the defaults, project conventions, security rule
- [How do I prompt for JavaScript that works with a keyboard?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/how-do-i-prompt-for-javascript-that-works-with-a-keyboard/): Spell it out in the prompt, control by control: real button and link elements for anything clickable, which keys do what, where focus goes after an action, and that the focus outline stays visible.
- [How do you keep API keys out of a vibe-coded app?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/how-do-you-keep-api-keys-out-of-a-vibe-coded-app/): Keep secret API keys on a server and out of anything the browser downloads.
- [Do the CodeLifter prompts work with local models?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/do-the-codelifter-prompts-work-with-local-models/): Nothing in them is tied to one vendor.
- [How do you start vibe coding without shipping broken code?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/how-do-you-start-vibe-coding-without-shipping-broken-code/): Start vibe coding on a small, low-stakes project inside a git repository, commit before every request, and give the assistant a check it can run, such as a test or a build.

## [Code provenance](https://codelifter.com/forum/f/provenance/)
Who or what wrote a piece of code, how to show it, and what detectors can and cannot tell you. Answers cite the papers and records they rely on.

- [Can a teacher tell if a student's code was written by AI?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/can-a-teacher-tell-if-a-students-code-was-written-by-ai/): Not reliably from the code alone.
- [What should a provenance record for copied code include?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/what-should-a-provenance-record-for-copied-code-include/): Record five things beside the copied code: where it came from, who or what wrote it, its licence as an SPDX identifier, a link to the exact source with the date you copied it, and the date someone las
- [How should you review AI-generated code before you merge it?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/how-should-you-review-ai-generated-code-before-you-merge-it/): Review AI-generated code like a change from a new contributor: read every line, run it, and check that the tests can fail.
- [Is vibe coding bad for learning to program?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/is-vibe-coding-bad-for-learning-to-program/): Vibe coding is bad for learning when you hand the whole task to the model, and much less so when you use AI to explain.
- [A detector flagged code written in 2019 as AI. What now?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/a-detector-flagged-code-written-in-2019-as-ai-what-now/): Treat the score as a claim, not a finding, and answer it with records made at the time.
- [Why does AI-generated code import packages that do not exist?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/why-does-ai-generated-code-import-packages-that-do-not-exist/): AI-generated code imports packages that do not exist because a language model predicts a plausible name instead of looking it up in a registry.
- [Can you prove you wrote a piece of code yourself?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/can-you-prove-you-wrote-a-piece-of-code-yourself/): Not with certainty, and not with a detector score.

## [AI code policies](https://codelifter.com/forum/f/policy/)
Project and workplace rules for AI-written code: which projects ban it, how to disclose it in commits, and how teams enforce a rule.

- [Do employers allow AI coding assistants, and what do their policies say?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/do-employers-allow-ai-coding-assistants-and-what-do-their-policies-say/): Whether you may use an AI coding assistant at work depends on your employer's written policy; there is no legal default that allows or bans it.
- [Which open source projects ban AI-generated contributions?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/which-open-source-projects-ban-ai-generated-contributions/): Six projects in the CodeLifter tracker had a written ban when it was last checked on 15 October 2026: Gentoo, NetBSD, QEMU, Servo, Zig and the GNOME Shell extensions review.
- [How can a team enforce an Assisted-by trailer on commits?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/how-can-a-team-enforce-an-assisted-by-trailer-on-commits/): Check for the trailer in two places: a commit-msg hook that stops the commit on the developer's machine, and a CI job that checks every commit in a pull request and blocks the merge.
- [Can you put AI-generated code under the MIT licence?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/can-you-put-ai-generated-code-under-the-mit-licence/): Yes, you can release a project that contains AI-generated code under the MIT licence, but the licence only passes on rights that someone holds.
- [Who is the author of a commit made through an MCP server?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/who-is-the-author-of-a-commit-made-through-an-mcp-server/): In Git terms, whoever the commit names: the account or identity the server used, which is usually yours.

## [MCP and tools](https://codelifter.com/forum/f/mcp-and-tools/)
MCP servers, agent skills and coding agents: what each can read, write or reach, how to scope them, and how to keep a mistake contained.

- [Is GitHub Copilot free, and what does the free plan include?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/is-github-copilot-free-and-what-does-the-free-plan-include/): GitHub Copilot has a free tier.
- [How do you install and set up Claude Code?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/how-do-you-install-and-set-up-claude-code/): To install Claude Code, run Anthropic's native installer in a terminal (curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh bash on macOS, Linux and WSL), then open your project folder, type claude and sign in th
- [What are the parts of an MCP setup: host, client and server?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/what-are-the-parts-of-an-mcp-setup-host-client-and-server/): An MCP setup has three parts: the host, the AI app you use (Claude Code, VS Code); one client per server, created by the host to hold that connection; and the server, the program that offers tools, re
- [What is Cursor, and how is it different from VS Code with Copilot?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/what-is-cursor-and-how-is-it-different-from-vs-code-with-copilot/): Cursor is a code editor with a built-in AI coding agent, made by Anysphere and based on the VS Code codebase.
- [How do you build a simple AI agent that can edit code?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/how-do-you-build-a-simple-ai-agent-that-can-edit-code/): To build a simple AI agent that can edit code, give a model an editing tool through its provider's API, run every tool call it asks for in your own code, send the result back, and repeat until it stop
- [How do you use GitHub Copilot for the first time?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/how-do-you-use-github-copilot-for-the-first-time/): To use GitHub Copilot for the first time, open VS Code, select the Copilot icon in the Status Bar, choose Use AI Features and sign in with GitHub.
- [What is an AI agent, and how is a coding agent different from a chatbot?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/what-is-an-ai-agent-and-how-is-a-coding-agent-different-from-a-chatbot/): An AI agent is a language model that decides its own next steps and uses tools in a loop until a task is done.
- [What is Ollama, and is it safe to run models locally?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/what-is-ollama-and-is-it-safe-to-run-models-locally/): Ollama is a free, MIT-licensed program that downloads open-weight language models and runs them on your own computer, with a local API on port 11434.

## [Script Shelf](https://codelifter.com/forum/f/script-shelf/)
The old cut-and-paste scripts from the original library: what happened to them, what replaced them, and whether old snippets still run.

- [Do old cut-and-paste scripts still work in current browsers?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/do-old-cut-and-paste-scripts-still-work-in-current-browsers/): Some run unchanged, many half work, and a few fail without any error on screen.
- [Is it safe to paste a script from an old tutorial site?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/is-it-safe-to-paste-a-script-from-an-old-tutorial-site/): Reading it is safe, pasting it unchanged is a manageable risk, and linking to the copy on the old site is the real danger.
- [What happened to the old image rollover script?](https://codelifter.com/forum/posts/what-happened-to-the-old-image-rollover-script/): It was not restored, because the editors cannot trace a CodeLifter rollover page in the surviving link records, and the effect no longer needs a script.

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