tech

Can you vibe code an entire search engine? This ex-Googler tried.

Hugh Williams used Claude Code to create a search engine, Zettair, indexing 1.5 million Wikipedia articles without writing code.

Can you vibe code an entire search engine? This ex-Googler tried.

TL;DR

  • Former Google engineering leader Hugh Williams built a search engine called Zettair using Claude Code.
  • Zettair indexes 1.5 million Wikipedia articles and includes features like autosuggest and related searches.
  • Williams reports writing zero lines of code himself, relying entirely on the AI assistant.
  • The project's foundation is an information-retrieval system Williams previously helped develop.
  • Williams believes AI coding assistants are most effective when combined with deep technical expertise, likening the process to coaching.