I coded a little CLI tool in 15 minutes, and it helped me stop subscriptions I was too lazy to cancel

For the longest time, I avoided ambiance coding. Not because I didn’t understand it, but because I didn’t believe it. As someone with a background in software development, I’m used to a structure that includes clear requirements, planned architecture, and predictable outcomes. Vibe coding seemed to be the opposite of that. Just trigger an AI and build as you go? It seemed messy. Kind of like skipping the thinking part and going straight to execution.

I also had this bias that “real developers” shouldn’t rely on AI to figure things out for them. It was like cheating the process I had spent years learning.

So I stuck to my usual way of building things: opening a code editor, planning the flow, writing everything down step by step.

But at the same time, I noticed something. I was delaying small ideas. The little tools I wanted to create stayed in my head because they didn’t seem “important enough” to follow my usual process. It was this friction that made me reconsider my decision. I didn’t want to build something fancy; I just wanted something simple that could actually help me in my daily life.

The problem that made me try anyway

The daily annoyance that I put off for too long

My subscriptions were a mess. I had an old Excel file where I tracked everything, like which tools I signed up for, renewal dates, costs. It worked for a while. But over time I stopped updating it. The new subscriptions were never received and the old ones remained there.

Every few weeks I would notice random charging and think I should really clean that up. But I never did it. Opening that Excel file seemed like a chore. The update was even worse.

I didn’t want to create an entire application or maintain another system just for this. That’s when it clicked: it was an annoying little problem that I always avoided. Perfect reason to finally try vibe coding.

I gave the AI ​​a prompt and started building

A simple prompt was enough to get started

Instead of overthinking it, I did the opposite of my usual approach. I gave AI a vague prompt.

No detailed requirements, no step-by-step breakdown. Just a simple instruction: create a CLI tool to track subscriptions with basic CRUD functionality, something I could run on my Windows machine.

I used ChatGPT Codex for this, and honestly, I expected to spend some time refining the prompt. But I didn’t do it. The build began immediately – setting up a simple Python CLI, suggesting SQLite for storage, and even structuring things in a way that didn’t require additional configuration.

That’s when it clicked. I didn’t need to control every detail. I just needed to guide the direction. Instead of writing code from scratch, I was reviewing, tweaking, and piloting. If something didn’t work, I adjusted the prompt slightly or requested a change.

It felt less like coding in the traditional sense and more like collaboration. And the best part was that I was no longer stuck in planning mode. In fact, I was building.

Simple, quick and useful

This subscription tracking CLI tool solves a very simple problem: keeping all my subscriptions in one place without the hassle of apps or spreadsheets.

This is a lightweight CLI tool that runs on my Windows machine and stores everything locally using SQLite. No dependencies, no complicated configuration. I just opened the terminal and used it.

So far it covers all the bases very well. I can easily add, update, delete and view subscriptions. It tracks details like amount, billing cycle (monthly, annual, or custom), next renewal date, category, and payment method.

What really makes it useful on a daily basis is how quickly I can interact with it. I can list everything, search for a specific subscription, or filter by category. There’s also a “due” order that shows upcoming and overdue payments, which is probably the feature I rely on the most.

It also gives me a clear summary of my monthly and annual expenses, which allows me to finally have visibility on where my money is going.

Since I already had an old Excel file, I could just import that data and clean things up instead of starting from scratch. It also supports suspending or canceling subscriptions without losing history, as well as export and backup options.

Then I plan to connect it to Gmail to automatically detect subscriptions. But even in its current form, it already does its job well.

Where ambiance coding fits in (and where it doesn’t apply)

This experience changed the way I think about creating small tools. Vibe coding is not a substitute for proper engineering, but it is not required. For quick, personal use cases, this removes the friction that typically prevents ideas from becoming real.

I can’t use it for large systems or anything that requires long term maintainability. But for disjointed utilities like this, it’s surprisingly effective. The key is knowing where it fits.

Used thoughtfully, mood coding can help you ship faster, experiment more, and finally create those “I’ll do that someday” ideas, without overcomplicating them.