Complete Guide to AI-Assisted Development in 2025

Using AI tools effectively for coding requires more than just having Copilot or Cursor installed. Here is a complete guide to AI-assisted development workflows in 2025.

Complete Guide to AI-Assisted Development in 2025

The AI Development Stack

Most professional developers in 2025 are running some combination of:

• An AI IDE (Cursor AI or GitHub Copilot): Real-time code assistance in the editor
• Claude or ChatGPT for architecture: Conversations about design, tradeoffs, and complex problems outside the immediate code

The key insight: these tools serve different functions. Your AI IDE helps you write code faster. Claude helps you think about the code before writing it.

Phase 1: Architecture and Planning

Before writing code, use Claude for architectural conversations:

• “I am building [feature]. Here are the constraints: [constraints]. What are the main approaches and their trade-offs?”
• “Review this system design and identify potential problems: [design]”
• “What is the right data structure for this problem: [problem]”

Phase 2: Implementation (Cursor AI)

With the architecture decided, Cursor AI handles implementation:

• @codebase-aware autocomplete keeps context across files
• Cmd+K for natural language edits: “Add error handling to this function”
• Chat panel for implementation questions within the codebase context

Phase 3: Review and Documentation (Claude)

Post-implementation, Claude is excellent for:

• Code review: “Review this implementation for security issues, performance problems, and design flaws”
• Documentation: “Write JSDoc comments for these functions”
• Test generation: “Write unit tests for this function covering edge cases”

Try Cursor AITry Claude Pro