Setting Up Your AI Development Environment

1 min read

This is part 2 of the series Building with AI Tools

Before you can get the most out of an AI coding assistant, your environment needs to be set up to support the workflow. This isn’t just about installing a plugin — it’s about creating a context-rich workspace that helps the AI help you.

Editor Configuration

Your editor is where you’ll spend most of your time, so it needs to play well with your AI assistant.

VS Code is the most common choice, and for good reason — it has first-class extensions for most AI tools. Here’s what matters:

  • Install the AI assistant’s extension (Copilot, Cody, etc.)
  • Keep your workspace focused — open only the project you’re working on
  • Use a .editorconfig file to standardize formatting

Terminal Setup

If you’re using a CLI-based assistant like Claude Code, your terminal matters:

  • Use a terminal with good Unicode support
  • Set up a comfortable shell (bash, zsh, or fish)
  • Consider a terminal multiplexer like tmux for session management

Project Context

The single most impactful thing you can do is give your AI assistant context about your project. A CLAUDE.md (or equivalent) file at the project root acts as a persistent briefing document:

# Project Overview
Jekyll blog using Bootstrap 5 and Minima theme.

# Commands
bundle exec jekyll serve --livereload

# Conventions
- BEM naming for CSS
- 4 spaces indentation
- Semantic HTML

This file is read automatically and shapes every interaction. It’s the difference between the AI guessing at your conventions and knowing them.

What’s Next

With your environment ready, the next step is learning how to write effective prompts that get you useful code on the first try. That’s where things get interesting.

aitoolssetup

Comments