In this final installment of our three-part series on AI-powered development, we’ll explore how to fine-tune your project using Aider and prepare it for deployment. If you haven’t checked out the previous parts, we covered building base components with Bolt in Part 1 and advancing development with Cursor IDE and Cline in Part 2.
The Power of Aider for Fine-Tuned Edits
Aider brings a unique advantage to our development workflow – speed and precision in making targeted code changes. Unlike other AI coding assistants, Aider excels at making microscopic adjustments while automatically managing version control through Git commits.
Key Features of Aider:
- Rapid, focused code modifications
- Automatic commit management
- Selective file searching
- Real-time cost tracking
- Comprehensive chat history maintenance
Practical Implementation Example: Navigation and Progress Tracking
Let’s walk through a real-world example of using Aider to enhance our application’s navigation and progress tracking features.
Navigation Bar Improvements
We started by having Aider analyze our navigation bar component against our tutorial flow diagram. The AI assistant quickly identified areas for improvement and implemented several enhancements:
- Integration of the progress tracker
- Making the home logo clickable
- Adding hover effects for better UX
- Implementing functional lesson navigation
Progress Tracking Implementation
One of the more complex features we tackled was the progress tracking system. Aider helped us:
- Set up the completion triggers for lessons
- Integrate the progress bar
- Implement the progress indicator
- Wire up the completion mechanism with the “Next Section” functionality
The Hybrid Approach: Combining AI Tools
An interesting insight from this development process was learning when to switch between different AI tools. While Aider excels at precise, targeted changes, we discovered that Cline has advantages in certain scenarios:
- Aider’s Strength: Microscopic changes and quick fixes
- Faster execution
- Precise file targeting
- Automatic Git commits
- Cline’s Advantage: Major development changes
- Better TypeScript error handling
- More comprehensive code analysis
- Automated build issue resolution
Preparing for Production
The final stage of our development process involved preparing the application for deployment. Here’s what we learned:
Build Process Optimization
- npm run build is more strict than npm run dev
- Production builds require more thorough error checking
- Some issues only surface during the build process
Deployment Tips
- Remember to add the dist folder to .gitignore
- Ensure all TypeScript errors are resolved
- Test the build locally before deployment
- Use platforms like Netlify for easy deployment
Key Takeaways
- Tool Selection: Choose the right AI tool for the specific task at hand
- Version Control: Leverage automatic commit features when available
- Error Handling: Pay attention to both development and production errors
- Progressive Enhancement: Start with basic functionality and gradually add features
- Documentation: Maintain clear documentation of changes through commit history
Looking Forward
While we’ve successfully taken our project from concept to deployment, there’s always room for improvement. Future enhancements might include:
- More extensive use of Cursor IDE
- Additional feature implementations
- Further UX improvements
- Performance optimizations
Conclusion
The journey from initial development to deployment demonstrates the power of combining different AI tools in your development workflow. By understanding the strengths of each tool – Bolt for base development, Cursor and Cline for advanced features, and Aider for fine-tuning – we can create a more efficient and effective development process.
Remember, the key to success lies not in relying on a single tool but in knowing when and how to use each tool effectively in your development workflow.
Want to see these concepts in action? Check out the full video tutorial on YouTube: Part 3 – Best Bolt AI Dev Workflow