Code assistants are in the editor every day, and the question has long ceased to be whether to use them or not. The question is different: which pieces of work can be given to them calmly, and which must be looked over with the eyes after them. Below is a breakdown by types of tasks and an example of a defect that we found in our own project during a technical measurement.
Immediately about what will not be here. We don't give our own numbers like "it became faster by so many percents": in order to present them honestly, we need to keep track of the time for each task before and after, and we didn't keep it. We will not put other people's interest here as our result either.
Where generation really saves time
Boilerplate and routine
The assistant shows itself best where the code is predictable and there is a lot of it: typical forms, DTOs, mappers, configurations, wrappers around APIs, tests of the same type. You describe the intention with a comment — you get a blank that remains to be read.
// Function to validate Ukrainian phone number
function validateUkrainianPhone(phone: string): boolean {
const regex = /^\+380[0-9]{9}$/
return regex.test(phone.replace(/\s/g, ''))
}
The price of error is low here. If the rule is incorrect, it can be seen on the very first test.
Strange syntax
The second strong scenario is when you know exactly what you want to do, but you don't remember exactly how it is written in a particular tool. nginx rule, expression in Prisma, Playwright specific selector. The assistant saves not thinking, but flipping through documentation.
Explanation of someone else's code
When a ten-year-old project comes into support, the repository chat provides a quick map of the terrain. It gets the details wrong, but it gets the search direction right — and it's much faster than reading everything one after the other.
Generation of interfaces from the prompt
Tools like v0 deliver a ready-made React component with Tailwind and shadcn/ui. For an internal admin or a layout draft, this is a normal start. For a public page that has to sell, the generated block remains a draft: semantics, accessibility and mobile behavior are refined by hand.
