Jonathan Butler was sitting on a collection of 105 unused website domains, unable to bring them to life due to his lack of coding skills. At 56 years old, Butler is well-known in Brooklyn for cofounding popular ventures such as the Smorgasburg food festival and the Brooklyn Flea resale market. In 2004, he created one of New York's pioneering blogs, Brownstoner.com, but that was with assistance; he learned coding techniques by observing an employee manage the site's back-end.
With no programming experience, Butler felt frustrated about the idea of hiring someone else to transform his domain ideas into functioning websites. "It hasn’t really made sense to pay someone else a few thousand dollars to fiddle around with your idea," he shared.
Then, a shift occurred when Butler dove into the world of artificial intelligence. Initially, he utilized AI as an enhanced search tool, but everything changed after a friend's enlightening session on a method called "vibe coding." By the following Monday, he was ready to start building.
Butler is among the rising number of "vibe coders," individuals without technical backgrounds who leverage AI tools to develop software solutions for their everyday needs. These platforms, like Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex, allow users to instruct an AI on what to create instead of having to code directly.
His inaugural vibe-coded creation was a website for his REM cover band, followed by a site for tracking his vintage tool collection—similar to Discogs for his extensive vinyl record library. "I have so many records that, when I go to a record store, I can't remember what I have," he explained.
This article is part of a new Business Insider series called "Vibe Code Your Life," which focuses on ordinary people harnessing AI to tackle everyday challenges, like making grocery shopping easier.
Butler's most ambitious project to date is a construction management site he's crafting while building a house in Germantown, New York, perched on a scenic 15-acre ridge. "We're thinking of it as our forever house," he described. "It’s a single story, which means we can comfortably navigate it when we’re older."
The construction process is expected to take between 18 to 24 months and will involve the organization of numerous blueprints, contracts, drawings, and photos—a task that can become chaotic. "Every time I wanted to see the most recent plans, I was digging through my old emails or having the architect resend them," Butler recounted.
Thus, he developed an app named Metalog designed to centralize all relevant construction documents, making management more seamless. He likened Metalog's functionality to a mixture of Dropbox and iPhoto, aiming to simplify document-sharing with his architect and contractor.
Butler found his groove with Claude, a subscription service that costs him $200 a month for reliable access. He initially began working on the project in ChatGPT, where he sought an outline and brainstormed ideas. After realizing the potential for creating something more integrated for his construction project, he outlined his thoughts in detail to ChatGPT, which helped identify key needs.
After a collaborative dialogue that lasted through a comprehensive 79-page interaction, he transitioned to Claude Code to finalize his coding. By the end of a dedicated 25-hour coding period, he was satisfied with Metalog and filled it with plans and documents to share with his architect. He intends to use it for keeping notes from regular meetings as well as tracking progress through labeled images.
Laura Trevino, Butler's architect and sister-in-law, praised the new system, explaining that her own organization methods often left clients unsure of document arrangement. "I have no idea how that information is organized on their end," she acknowledged. Thanks to Metalog, both she and Butler can synchronize their perspectives simultaneously.
An example of Metalog’s utility surfaced when they tackled budget management together. With multiple rounds of pricing in contracts frequently creating confusion in inboxes, Trevino could quickly access the most current information in the app, taking her "two minutes" to get resolutions without any mix-ups.
Despite the progress, Butler remains committed to refining Metalog, dedicating three to four hours daily to its development. He finds this task rewarding rather than burdensome. "It’s like being in your wood shop making something," he expressed, reflecting on the empowerment he feels now that he can create his own digital projects.
Looking ahead, Butler plans to build an AI scraper to gather architects' contact information, allowing him to promote Metalog directly to industry professionals.
