Best AI Development Workflow with Bolt – Part 2: Advanced Tools and Component Integration

In Part 1 of our series, we established the foundation of our application using Bolt. Now, we’re taking things to the next level by introducing more sophisticated development tools that, despite their advanced capabilities, remain approachable for non-technical developers.

Transitioning to Advanced Tools

Our journey continues with the integration of two powerful tools: Cline and Cursor IDE. While these tools offer enhanced capabilities compared to Bolt, they maintain a user-friendly interface that won’t intimidate developers who are just starting their journey. One of the most impressive features is Cline’s ability to automatically test the application by launching and interacting with the browser on its own.

Setting Up the Environment

The first step in our advanced workflow involves ensuring all dependencies are properly installed:

1. Opening Cursor IDE
2. Running npm install to set up dependencies
3. Launching the development server with npm run dev
4. Verifying the local environment is working correctly

Project Structure and Documentation

A crucial part of our development process involves organizing our project with clear documentation:

1. Downloading the GitHub tutorial outline from ChatGPT
2. Creating necessary files in our GitHub repository through Cursor
3. Implementing a UI flow diagram using Claude
4. Using a Mermaid diagram viewer for visualization

The UI flow diagram serves as the foundation for our entire development process, guiding how our AI development tools will approach the project.

Tool Comparison and Insights

During the development process, we discovered some interesting insights about different AI development tools:

Cline’s Advantages:

• Transparent editing process showing exactly what changes are being made
• Ability to interact with the browser for testing
• Effective error detection and fixing capabilities
• Great for wiring up components and solving implementation issues

Cursor’s Role:

• Better suited for hands-on coding
• May have limitations with certain component detection
• Useful for specific development tasks

Cost Considerations

While Cline proves to be highly effective, it’s worth noting that it can be more expensive compared to other tools like Aider. The cost increases particularly when using features like browser interaction and computer vision capabilities through Anthropic’s latest Computer Use API.

Best Practices and Limitations

Through our development process, we’ve identified several important best practices:

1. File Size Management: Keep files under 300 lines of code, as LLMs tend to struggle with larger files and may deviate from requested tasks.
2. Version Control: Using GitHub provides advantages over Bolt’s direct editing:
   • Ability to review specific changes
   • Option to revert individual changes rather than entire files
   • Better control over the development process
3. Component Integration: When working with content and components:
   • Break down large content files into manageable chunks
   • Verify changes manually when possible to save on costs
   • Maintain clear separation between content and component logic

Development Workflow Tips

For non-developers looking to work with these tools:

1. Start with Bolt for initial project setup
2. Transition to Cline for more detailed development work
3. Use version control (GitHub) to track and manage changes
4. Test changes incrementally rather than making large-scale modifications
5. Monitor console errors and address them systematically

Conclusion

Part 2 of our development workflow demonstrates how we can leverage more advanced tools while maintaining accessibility for non-technical developers. The combination of Bolt’s foundation with Cline’s capabilities creates a powerful development environment that enables efficient application development.

By following this workflow, even those without traditional development backgrounds can create sophisticated applications. The key is to understand each tool’s strengths and use them appropriately in your development process.

Stay tuned for Part 3, where we’ll explore using Aider for precise, detail-oriented edits and deploy our application to make it live.

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This post is part of a series on AI-powered development workflows. Check out Part 1 for the basics of setting up your project with Bolt.