Setting Up AI in Your Development Workflow

┌─────────────────────┬──────────────────────┬───────────────────────┬────────────────────┐
│                     │ Cursor               │ GitHub Copilot        │ Claude for VS Code │
├─────────────────────┼──────────────────────┼───────────────────────┼────────────────────┤
│ Price               │ $20/month (Pro)      │ $10/month             │ Free (with API key)│
│ Model               │ GPT-4o / Claude      │ GPT-4o                │ Claude (your key)  │
│ Inline completion   │ ✓ Best in class      │ ✓ Good                │ ✗                  │
│ Chat (whole file)   │ ✓ Excellent          │ ✓ Good                │ ✓ Good             │
│ Codebase context    │ ✓ Full codebase      │ ✓ Full codebase       │ ✗ (current file)   │
│ Multi-file edits    │ ✓ Composer           │ ✓ Workspace edits     │ ✗                  │
│ Terminal integration│ ✓                   │ ✓                     │ ✗                  │
│ Best for            │ Full-time AI dev     │ Copilot already fans  │ Occasional use     │
└─────────────────────┴──────────────────────┴───────────────────────┴────────────────────┘

{
  // Cursor-specific settings
  "cursor.general.enableShadowWorkspace": true,
  "cursor.cpp.enablePartialAccepts": true,

  // Keep your code private — disable telemetry
  "cursor.privacy.telemetryLevel": "off",

  // Enable indexing for full codebase context
  "cursor.indexing.enabled": true,
  "cursor.indexing.excludePatterns": [
    "**/node_modules/**",
    "**/.git/**",
    "**/dist/**",
    "**/.next/**"
  ],

  // Accept completions with Tab, dismiss with Escape
  "editor.tabCompletion": "on",

  // Recommended: turn off auto-save, review AI changes manually
  "files.autoSave": "off"
}

# AI helper — call Claude from the terminal
# Usage: ai "explain what this does" < file.py
#        ai "write a one-liner to find all .log files over 100MB"
#        git diff | ai "summarise these changes for a commit message"
ai() {
  local prompt="$*"

  # Read stdin if available (allows piping)
  if [ ! -t 0 ]; then
    local stdin_content
    stdin_content=$(cat)
    prompt="$prompt

$stdin_content"
  fi

  curl -s https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages     -H "x-api-key: $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"     -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01"     -H "content-type: application/json"     -d "{
      "model": "claude-haiku-4-5",
      "max_tokens": 1024,
      "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "$prompt"}]
    }" | python3 -c "import sys, json; print(json.load(sys.stdin)['content'][0]['text'])"
}

# Explain a command you don't know
ai "what does this git command do: git rebase -i HEAD~3"

# Explain an error
cat error.log | ai "what is causing this error and how do I fix it"

# Generate a command
ai "write a find command to locate all .env files not in .gitignore"

# Code review a file
cat src/auth.js | ai "review this for security issues"

#!/bin/bash
# AI-assisted commit message generator
# Generates a draft commit message from the staged diff
# You can edit or replace it before confirming

COMMIT_MSG_FILE=$1
COMMIT_SOURCE=$2

# Only run on blank commit messages (not amends, merges, etc.)
if [ -n "$COMMIT_SOURCE" ]; then
  exit 0
fi

# Get the staged diff
DIFF=$(git diff --cached --stat)

if [ -z "$DIFF" ]; then
  exit 0
fi

echo "Generating commit message..." >&2

# Call Claude with the diff
GENERATED=$(git diff --cached | curl -s https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages   -H "x-api-key: $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"   -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01"   -H "content-type: application/json"   -d @- <<EOF
{
  "model": "claude-haiku-4-5",
  "max_tokens": 200,
  "system": "You write git commit messages. Output ONLY the commit message. First line: imperative verb, 50 chars max. Optional body after blank line. No markdown.",
  "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Write a commit message for this diff:
$(cat)"}]
}
EOF
| python3 -c "import sys, json; print(json.load(sys.stdin)['content'][0]['text'])")

# Prepend generated message (user can edit before confirming)
echo "$GENERATED" > "$COMMIT_MSG_FILE"

# Make the hook executable
chmod +x .git/hooks/prepare-commit-msg

# Test it: stage a change and run git commit
git add -p
git commit  # editor opens with AI-generated message — edit or accept

#!/bin/bash
# Lightweight AI pre-commit review
# Flags Critical issues only — won't block on style suggestions

DIFF=$(git diff --cached)

if [ -z "$DIFF" ]; then
  exit 0
fi

echo "Running AI pre-commit review..."

REVIEW=$(echo "$DIFF" | curl -s https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages   -H "x-api-key: $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"   -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01"   -H "content-type: application/json"   -d @- <<EOF
{
  "model": "claude-haiku-4-5",
  "max_tokens": 512,
  "system": "You do quick pre-commit reviews. Look ONLY for: obvious bugs, hardcoded secrets or credentials, SQL injection risks, and syntax errors. If nothing critical found, respond with exactly: OK. Otherwise list only Critical issues — one per line, with line number.",
  "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Review this diff:
$(cat)"}]
}
EOF
| python3 -c "import sys, json; print(json.load(sys.stdin)['content'][0]['text'])")

if [ "$REVIEW" = "OK" ]; then
  echo "AI review: clean"
  exit 0
else
  echo ""
  echo "⚠️  AI review flagged potential issues:"
  echo "$REVIEW"
  echo ""
  echo "Commit anyway? (y/N)"
  read -r response
  if [[ "$response" =~ ^[Yy]$ ]]; then
    exit 0
  else
    exit 1
  fi
fi

# 1. Add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc (global — works in all projects)
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."

# 2. For project-specific keys (e.g. different accounts for different clients)
# Create a .env.local file in the project root:
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

# 3. Add .env.local to .gitignore (critical — never commit API keys)
echo ".env.local" >> .gitignore
echo ".env" >> .gitignore

# 4. Load project .env when entering the directory (add to ~/.zshrc)
# Using direnv (brew install direnv):
eval "$(direnv hook zsh)"
# Then create .envrc in your project:
# dotenv .env.local

# 5. Verify your key is set:
echo $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY | head -c 20  # shows first 20 chars only