Dark mode isn’t just a trend, it’s a UX standard users expect. While building a new interface, I wanted a clean, responsive dark mode toggle that felt smooth and intuitive across devices. Instead of writing everything from scratch, I used Vibe Coding to shape the design and guide the development process. In this post, I’ll share exactly how I built it, step by step, from prompt creation to final polish.
Choosing Vibe Coding Tool to Create Dark Mode Toggle
My first step in building the dark mode toggle was choosing the right vibe coding tool. I knew I wanted something that could translate design intent into clean, responsive UI code with minimal friction.
I spent a good amount of time exploring different tools and testing their capabilities. After digging into a few options, I found Vitara ai to be the best fit for this project because of its smooth AI-driven workflow and how easily it integrated with my design prompts.
Project Setup and Prompt Ideation with Vitara.ai
Once I had Vitara ready, I jumped into designing the actual toggle. My goal was clear: a minimalist dark mode switch that worked smoothly across all screen sizes.
Step 1: Start With the Design Vision
I wanted something:
- Visually clean
- Touch-friendly
- Smooth in its animation and theme transition
To get there, I wrote a prompt based on Vibe Coding principles. Here's what I started with:
"Build a mobile-friendly dark mode switch with sleek transitions and modern styling."
Step 2: Generate the First Version With Vitara.ai
I plugged that prompt into Vitara, and the tool quickly delivered a strong starting point:
- A responsive layout using semantic HTML
- CSS variables for managing light and dark themes
- JavaScript logic to handle theme switching and save the user's preference using localStorage
Step 3: Iterate and Refine
With that base, I kept refining:
- Tweaked the prompt to improve accessibility (like adding aria-labels)
- Enhanced responsiveness for tablets and smaller devices
- Included support for detecting system-level dark mode using prefers-color-scheme
Every iteration felt faster and cleaner than writing code manually from scratch. Vitara not only understood the prompt context but also made smart layout and UX decisions that aligned with my initial design goal.
Designing the Toggle UI with AI Feedback
Step 1: Exploring Visual OptionsOnce the basic structure was ready, I began shaping the toggle's appearance. I updated the prompt to focus on aesthetics and asked Vitara for design suggestions. It returned multiple style options, including pill switches, icon toggles, and label-based variations.
Step 2: Choosing a Toggle StyleAfter reviewing the options, I went with a pill-style toggle. It felt modern, worked well across devices, and matched the overall minimalist vibe I was aiming for. Vitara adjusted the layout accordingly, aligning spacing and proportions for a balanced look.
Step 3: Generating Responsive StylingTo keep the design fluid, I prompted Vitara to add responsive behavior. It returned Tailwind CSS classes that automatically adapted to screen sizes. This eliminated the need for writing separate media queries, and the toggle worked seamlessly on both mobile and desktop.
Step 4: Enhancing AccessibilityAccessibility was next on my checklist. I updated the prompt to include accessibility support, and Vitara responded with aria-labels, improved keyboard focus styles, and suggestions to ensure color contrast met WCAG guidelines.
Step 5: Comparing and RefiningTo see how far it had come, I compared the initial version with the refined output. The difference was clear, now I have a cleaner layout, better interaction states, and a more intuitive toggle experience. What started as a functional switch now looked and felt production-ready.
Making It Responsive Across Devices
Making the toggle responsive was all about ensuring it looked and behaved consistently on any screen. I adjusted the prompt in Vitara to prioritize responsiveness, and it returned layout updates using flexible widths and mobile-first styling. With minimal tweaking, the toggle adapted smoothly across devices, from smartphones to desktops, without needing extra custom CSS.
How I Made the Toggle Remember User Preferences (Adding Theme Logic with JavaScript)
To make the toggle actually switch themes and remember user preferences, I needed some JavaScript logic. I started by asking Vitara to generate a basic setup that could detect the system’s preferred color scheme using window.matchMedia. It also included logic to store the user's choice in localStorage, so their preference would persist across sessions.
The script toggled a dark class on the HTML element based on either the saved preference or the system default. Vitara kept the code lightweight, avoiding unnecessary complexity or bloated conditionals. I reviewed the output line by line to make sure I understood each part, and it turned out to be clean and easy to maintain.
This step brought the toggle to life. It was no longer just a styled switch, it now reacted intelligently to both system settings and user actions.
Finalizing the Toggle Component
With the design, responsiveness, and logic in place, I combined everything into a single component. The final version included a clean HTML structure, theme-based CSS variables, and lightweight JavaScript to handle toggling and preference storage. Vitara helped streamline the code by removing repetition and organizing the structure clearly, making the component easy to reuse and maintain.
Testing for Real Users and Real Devices
With the full component ready, I moved on to testing. I wanted to make sure the toggle not only worked, but felt right across browsers and devices. I checked how it behaved on mobile, desktop, and tablet screen sizes, paying close attention to spacing, touch responsiveness, and animation smoothness.
I also tested for accessibility using keyboard navigation and basic screen reader tools. Vitara had already suggested improvements during earlier steps, so this phase was mostly about confirming everything worked as expected. The dark mode toggle responded accurately to both system settings and manual user input, holding its state even after a page reload.
At this point, the component felt production-ready, both in how it looked and how it performed.
Final Thoughts
After wrapping everything up, I hosted the final toggle on CodePen so others could test it out and learn from the approach. What started as a simple idea became a complete, responsive, and accessible component, thanks to a process that blended creativity with automation.
Using AI didn’t just save me time, it helped me build with more clarity and intention. Vibe Coding gave me the space to focus on design direction, while Vitara handled the heavy lifting on structure and logic. Together, they improved my speed, refined the visual quality, and kept the codebase clean and easy to manage.
This project reminded me that AI is not here to replace developers, it is here to make us better at what we do.
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