I’m enjoying the challenge of using these high-level editors. They don’t always do what I want. But many times, they explore possibilities I never would have considered.

Currently, I’m giving Windsurf a try, both in my personal projects and at work. I really like the Cascade process, where it tries something, then realizes it could do a bit more, then tries an alternate path, etc. It’s a little easier for me to work with than Cursor, although I haven’t used Cursor in a couple of weeks–so maybe it’s already improved lol.

I tried working with dual Windsurf windows open today–the idea was: could I manage two “AI agents” as they try each to solve a different problem? I had one exploring a bug: first, chatgpt 4o helped convert screenshots of the issue to text, then I pasted all of the notes our product manager had made (along with the screenshot-to-text) and had Windsurf noodle on that for a bit. It came very close to a solution, but the tests were unable to prove the solution worked, so I had to revert to normal coding.

On the other Windsurf window, I was doing some new feature development. One trick I learned is to create a directory full of readme-esque files that cover various best practices or architectural decisions we’ve made in our codebase. For instance: a how-to-test.md file, with detailed instructions on how we write SQL tests against a database. I could @-reference this file (indicating to the AI that this file should be read/used/followed) whenever writing tests or using a test runner. Then I added this file to my .windsurfrules file and it seemed to pick that up consistently.

Maybe the “trick” to this new world is to be very detailed about all of the “tribal knowledge” practices we all keep in our heads, document them, and then conditionally call them up when appropriate? If I understand correctly, this is essentially what Devin (the $500+/mo AI Jr. developer) is doing and what is required to get this AI to do its job.

Overall, I enjoyed this new mode of “high level” development. I’ll probably give it a rest at work for a few days, but I’m still open to it being an effective way to work. Will try again soon.