AI-Assisted Development

Overview

Learn to leverage AI (Claude) effectively for faster, higher-quality development.

Prompting Best Practices

1. Be Specific

❌ Bad: "Build me an API"

✅ Good: "Build a REST API endpoint for lead capture using Next.js App Router. It should validate email and phone, store in Supabase, and send a Slack notification."

2. Provide Context

I'm building a real estate lead capture system.

Tech stack:
Next.js 14 (App Router)
Supabase (PostgreSQL)
Tailwind CSS
TypeScript

Current file structure:
/app
  /api
    /leads
      route.ts  ← I need help with this

Please create a POST endpoint that...

3. Iterate in Steps

Start with the core logic

Add validation

Add error handling

Add tests

Optimize

4. Review & Understand

Always review AI-generated code:

• Does it match your architecture?
• Are there security issues?
• Is it maintainable?

Effective Patterns

Architecture Review

"Review this system design for a lead management dashboard. What are potential issues with scalability, security, or maintenance?"

Code Review

"Review this API route for security vulnerabilities, performance issues, and best practices."

Debugging

"This function throws an error when [X]. Here's the code and error message. What's wrong and how do I fix it?"

Learning

"Explain how this Cloudflare Worker handles rate limiting. Break it down step by step."

Tools to Use Together

Task	Best Tool

Architecture	Claude
Coding	Claude + Cursor
Research	ChatGPT / Perplexity
Creative	Claude / Gemini
Debugging	Claude