This is a submission for the Sanity Challenge, Path Two: Vibe-Code Something Strange.
I wanted to build something useful.
Then I changed my mind. 😭
Instead, I decided to build MoodShelf -a tiny website for fictional moods that are weirdly relatable.
Think:
☕ Monday Coffee
Tastes like unread emails.🛏️ The 5-Minute Nap
Somehow lasted 3 hours.💻 Deadline Mode
Activated exclusively at 11:57 PM.
Basically, a tiny museum for feelings that probably shouldn't have names.
What I Built
MoodShelf is a collection of strange, fictional moods.
Each mood has things like:
- Name
- Description
- Category
- Vibe score
- Image
- Related moods
The fun part?
Instead of hardcoding all of this into the website, I used Sanity to manage the content.
How MoodShelf Works
The workflow is pretty simple:
Create a weird mood
↓
Add the content in Sanity
↓
Sanity stores the structured data
↓
MoodShelf displays it
↓
People browse the moods
↓
"Why is this so relatable?"
The idea is to keep content and the website separate.
If I want to add a new ridiculous mood, I can add it in Sanity without rewriting the whole website.
So the next time I invent something like “Sunday Scaries Lite™”, I just add it to the collection and let MoodShelf do the rest.
Which feels like an excellent use of technology. 😂
The Vibe-Coding Part
My development process was basically:
"I have an idea."
↓
Prompt AI
↓
Generate
↓
Look at what happened
↓
Something breaks
↓
Ask AI why
↓
Fix it
↓
Repeat
Very scientific.
Very professional.
Definitely not me staring at an error message wondering what I did. 😭
But that was actually one of the interesting parts of the challenge.
Vibe coding wasn't just:
“AI, build everything for me.”
It was more like:
“Here's what I want. Now help me get there.”
I still had to decide what the app should do, what the content should look like, what needed fixing and whether the generated code actually made sense.
Why Sanity?
MoodShelf doesn't need complicated content.
But it was a fun way to understand the difference between content and the website displaying that content.
Sanity handles the content.
MoodShelf handles the experience.
That means I can keep adding completely unnecessary moods without constantly changing the app itself.
Which feels like an excellent use of technology. 😂
What I Learned
The biggest thing I learned wasn't how to make a website about fictional moods.
It was how different development feels when you can describe an idea first and then iteratively shape the result with AI.
You still need to:
- understand what you're building
- give clear instructions
- inspect the output
- catch mistakes
- make decisions
- and occasionally tell the AI, “No. That's not what I meant.” 😭
AI can speed up the building process.
But you still need to be the person holding the steering wheel.
Final Thought
Does the world need another website containing fictional moods?
Probably not.
Did I enjoy building one anyway?
Absolutely.
Sometimes the best way to learn a new tool isn't to build another serious dashboard or task manager.
Sometimes you just need to build something slightly ridiculous and see where it takes you.
And apparently, I had a lot of imaginary moods to catalogue. 🫠
Now I'm curious...
What weird mood would you add to MoodShelf? 👀
Give it a name and a one-line description in the comments.
I might just have to add the best ones. 😂
