A placeholder for the full piece — the short version: the most useful way I've found to work with an AI coding assistant is treating it like a fast, tireless collaborator that still needs direction, not a replacement for actually understanding the codebase.

The best results come from giving it real context (existing patterns, constraints, the "why" behind a decision) and reviewing its output the same way you'd review a teammate's pull request — not rubber-stamping it, and not micromanaging every line either.