Practical Guide: AI Pair Programming with Sweet! CLI

What is AI Pair Programming?

AI pair programming combines human creativity and domain knowledge with AI's speed, consistency, and comprehensive knowledge. Unlike traditional pair programming between two humans, AI pair programming with Sweet! CLI offers a unique blend of capabilities:

• 24/7 availability: Your AI pair is always ready to collaborate
• Instant context switching: Perfect memory across files and sessions
• Comprehensive knowledge: Access to programming patterns, libraries, and best practices
• Unbiased feedback: Focused on technical merit rather than personal preferences

Setting Up Your AI Pair Programming Workflow

1. Interactive Mode: The Conversation Partner

Sweet! CLI's interactive mode creates a continuous conversation where you can:

# Start interactive session
sweet

# Have a development conversation
You: "I'm building a React component for a data table"
Sweet! CLI: "What specific requirements do you have for the data table?"
You: "It needs sorting, pagination, and server-side filtering"
Sweet! CLI: "I'll help you implement that. Let me analyze your existing components first..."

2. Todo-Driven Collaboration

Use Sweet! CLI's todo system for structured collaboration:

# Create a todo for your feature
sweet "Create todo: Implement user profile page with edit functionality"

# Sweet! CLI will break it down:
# - Create profile component layout
# - Add form validation
# - Implement API integration
# - Write tests
# - Add responsive design

# Mark tasks as you review them
sweet "Mark profile component layout as complete"

Effective Collaboration Patterns

Pattern 1: The Navigator-Driver Model

In this pattern, you act as the navigator (setting direction, making high-level decisions) while Sweet! CLI acts as the driver (implementing details, writing code).

How it works:

1. You define the goal: "Add error handling to the file upload component"
2. Sweet! CLI explores options: Analyzes current implementation, suggests error handling strategies
3. You choose approach: "Use toast notifications for user feedback"
4. Sweet! CLI implements: Adds error handling with toast notifications
5. You review and refine: "Make the error messages more specific to each failure mode"

Pattern 2: The Rubber Duck Debugger

Use Sweet! CLI as an intelligent rubber duck that not only listens but also analyzes and suggests solutions.

# Explain your problem in detail
sweet "I'm getting a 500 error when submitting the registration form. 
The error log shows 'Database connection timeout'. 
The form works locally but fails in production. 
Our database is PostgreSQL on AWS RDS."

# Sweet! CLI will:
# 1. Ask clarifying questions about your setup
# 2. Analyze common causes of database timeouts
# 3. Suggest specific debugging steps
# 4. Help implement connection pooling or timeout adjustments

Pattern 3: The Code Reviewer

Have Sweet! CLI review your code before committing:

# Request code review
sweet "Review the changes in src/components/Checkout.js"

# Sweet! CLI will provide feedback on:
# - Code quality and readability
# - Potential bugs or edge cases
# - Performance considerations
# - Security implications
# - Consistency with project patterns

Advanced Pair Programming Techniques

1. Context Sharing

Sweet! CLI maintains context across your conversation. Share relevant information to improve collaboration:

• File contents: "Here's the current implementation: [paste code]"
• Error messages: "This is the exact error I'm seeing: [paste error]"
• Project structure: "Our project uses TypeScript with React and Redux"
• Constraints: "We need to support IE11 for this feature"

2. Iterative Refinement

The best AI pair programming happens in iterations:

1. First pass: Sweet! CLI creates a working solution
2. Review: You identify areas for improvement
3. Refinement: Sweet! CLI enhances the solution based on feedback
4. Polish: Final optimizations and cleanup

3. Teaching the AI

Help Sweet! CLI understand your preferences and patterns:

• "In our codebase, we use functional components with hooks, not class components"
• "We prefer async/await over promise chains"
• "Our API calls should use the centralized request utility"
• "Error messages should be logged to Sentry with appropriate context"

Measuring Success in AI Pair Programming

Track these metrics to evaluate your AI pair programming effectiveness:

• Velocity increase: How much faster do you complete features?
• Bug reduction: Are you catching more issues before they reach production?
• Knowledge transfer: Are you learning new patterns and techniques?
• Code quality: Is your code becoming more consistent and maintainable?
• Developer satisfaction: Are you enjoying the development process more?

Common Challenges and Solutions

Challenge: Over-reliance on AI

Solution: Use Sweet! CLI as a collaborator, not a replacement. Maintain your critical thinking and architectural oversight.

Challenge: Context Limitations

Solution: Provide clear context upfront and refer to specific files when discussing complex issues.

Challenge: Style Inconsistency

Solution: Establish clear style guidelines and review AI-generated code for consistency with your codebase.

Getting Started with Sweet! CLI Pair Programming

Ready to try AI pair programming? Follow these steps:

1. Install Sweet! CLI: npm install -g @sweet-cli/sweet
2. Start a session: Run sweet in your project directory
3. Begin collaborating: Describe what you're working on and invite Sweet! CLI's input
4. Experiment with patterns: Try different collaboration styles to find what works for you
5. Provide feedback: Tell Sweet! CLI what's working and what could be better

AI pair programming with Sweet! CLI transforms solo development into collaborative problem-solving. By combining human insight with AI execution, you can achieve higher quality code in less time while continuously improving your own skills.