AI-Assisted Coding + Git Branches: Your Workflow's Secret Weapon

As many of you know, I'm a big fan of leveraging AI tools to supercharge my coding workflow. It's truly amazing how quickly we can prototype, debug, and even generate entirely new sections of code with these intelligent assistants. But here's a **powerful** tip I've learned from countless hours of "AI-assisted coding" that I wanted to share with my fellow senior software engineers: **Always, always, ALWAYS use Git, and specifically, create a dedicated branch for the new code you're working on with your AI.** Whether you're prompting a model locally with Ollama, interacting with ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, or any other AI, the core principle remains the same. These AIs are powerful. Sometimes, _too_ powerful. They can spit out a significant chunk of code in seconds. And while often brilliant, there are those times when they just… veer off into the weeds. Maybe the AI misunderstood a subtle requirement, or perhaps it took a dependency on something that simply doesn't exist in your current environment. This holds true whether you're interacting with your AI through a VS Code extension like CLINE, a dedicated AI-first editor like Cursor, or even another UI layer. Without proper version control, you're left with a messy `git revert` or, even worse, manually trying to undo changes. That's a huge time sink and a recipe for frustration. --- ### Your Workflow's Secret Sauce Here's the simple workflow I recommend: 1. **Before you start prompting your AI for a new feature or significant change:** `git checkout -b feature/your-new-ai-driven-code` (or whatever naming convention you prefer). 2. **Now, go to town with your AI.** Let it generate, refine, and assist you with your coding, regardless of the AI model or your preferred UI. 3. **If things go sideways, or the AI produces something that's just not viable:** `git reset --hard origin/main` (or back to your previous stable branch). You're instantly back to square one, clean and ready to try a different approach or set of prompts. 4. **If it's working well:** Commit frequently within your new branch, just as you normally would. --- This little habit, creating a temporary "AI playground branch," has saved me countless headaches. It allows you to experiment freely with AI-generated code, knowing you have an immediate and easy escape hatch if things don't pan out. It’s the digital equivalent of having a big "undo" button for your entire coding session. So, next time you fire up your AI to tackle a new coding task, remember: **Branch first, then unleash the AI.** Your future self (and your sanity) will thank you. Happy coding!