Mobile App Security for Vibe Coders: What to Check Before Launch
A plain-language security review for AI-assisted mobile app development covering secrets, authorization, input validation, dependencies, and release configuration.
Protect secrets
Search the repository and build artifacts for API keys, service-role credentials, signing keys, database passwords, and tokens. Public client configuration is not the same as a privileged secret. Rotate anything that has been committed or pasted into an unsafe channel.
Enforce authorization server-side
Every read and write should answer: who is allowed to do this? Do not trust user IDs sent by the client. Use database policies or server-side checks, then test requests as another user and as an unauthenticated visitor.
Validate at boundaries
Validate input on the server even if the mobile form validates it locally. Limit lengths, reject unexpected values, and handle malformed responses. Ask Codex or another agent to identify trust boundaries and propose negative tests.
Review dependencies and builds
Keep dependencies current, remove packages you do not use, and lock production builds to reproducible versions. Check that debug logging, test accounts, and development endpoints are disabled in release builds.
Make recovery part of security
Users need a safe password reset, account deletion path, session revocation, and support process. Security is not only blocking attackers; it is helping legitimate users regain control without bypasses.