November 3, 2025
Vibes vs. reviews: who wins?
Ask HN: How to deal with long vibe-coded PRs?
Monster code dump sparks dev revolt — “reject it or walk”
TLDR: A 9,000-line code dump with its own mini-language sparked a near-unanimous “reject and split it up” on Hacker News. Debate flared over AI-driven speed and a tough job market, with some advocating job-hunting and others blaming oversaturated skills—highlighting a growing clash between quality reviews and rushed code.
Hacker News lit up after one engineer asked how to review a mega “vibe-coded” pull request — a request to merge changes — weighing in at 9,000 lines and 63 files, complete with a DIY mini-language (a DSL). The crowd’s verdict? Nope. The top chorus screamed “reject it”, “split it up”, and “this fails the sniff test.” One commenter joked that if a code change needs a detective and a magnifying glass, it’s not a review — it’s an autopsy. The pragmatic advice: send it back and demand bite-sized updates, each with a clear reason to exist.
Then the drama hit. A heated side-thread broke out over AI-fueled “velocity.” One dev said if the boss forces you to review a monster PR, quietly start job hunting. Another clapped back: “In this market?” Cue the spice: a different voice claimed the market only stings oversaturated skill sets — “React and Python-only folks” — while another urged being the hero who blocks “VibeCodeTechDebt.”
Between laughs and eye-rolls, the community rallied around a simple rule: big, vibe-heavy dumps waste everyone’s time. Break it up, justify the fancy parts, or don’t ship it. Catch the fireworks in the HN thread.
Key Points
- •A developer encountered a very large PR for a relatively simple service.
- •The PR contains 9,000 lines of code.
- •It introduces 63 new files into the codebase.
- •The changes include a DSL parser, indicating significant complexity.
- •The author asks for guidance on how to review a PR of this size and scope.