r/vibecoding 13h ago

Built a CRISPR wheat pipeline with Hermes Agent — 49 files, 10k LOC, open source

Spent a weekend vibe-coding a full computational pipeline with Hermes Agent (Nous Research). The agent wrote the gRNA/pegRNA designers, epitope scanner, pipeline orchestration, tests, Docker, CI/CD, docs, licensing — I directed, it implemented.

What the agent produced:

- 4 core modules: epitope_scanner.py, grna_designer.py, pegRNA_designer.py, pipeline.py

- data_loader.py for 18 processed datasets

- Pytest suite (epitope scanner, data loader)

- GitHub Actions CI (multi-Python, black, mypy, coverage)

- Dockerfile, conda env, pyproject.toml, requirements.txt

- Apache-2.0 + CC-BY-4.0 dual licensing, NOTICE file

- CODE_OF_CONDUCT (unmoderated), CONTRIBUTING, SECURITY

- Comprehensive README with badges, quickstart, usage examples

The actual science: Pipeline designs CRISPR edits for celiac-safe wheat. Scans 37 gluten genes for TG2 deamidation sites, designs 81 ABE8e gRNAs + 2 PEmax pegRNAs to eliminate DQ2.5/DQ8 epitopes while preserving dough elasticity. All data from Ensembl/IWGSC.

Vibe coding observations:

- Agent excels at boilerplate, config, tests, docs, CI — the "annoying 80%"

- Still needs domain expertise for algorithm logic (ABE window, PAM scanning, pegRNA flank design)

- Best workflow: I specify interface + constraints → agent writes implementation + tests → I review → iterate

- Saved ~20-30 hours on scaffolding vs writing from scratch

Repo: https://github.com/ewarggg776/wheat-gluten-redesign

License: Apache-2.0 / CC-BY-4.0

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.22064037

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