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”
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