Coding with an AI IDE (visual) vs AI CLI (Terminal), what's better?
I've been primarily using @Cursor as I like how it operates, enjoy that it's visual, and I am getting very comfortable with using it and being able to easily select different code bits and modify what I need....however....
I recently started using Gemini CLI in @Warp and I must say... I'm kinda liking it. I feel that it's able to do a lot more, faster without needing me to jump in. When I do jump in, it's simply to provide it guidence and direction.
I haven't done much with it yet, but I can see myslef now doing a combination of CLI and IDE development. I'm curious what everyone elses experience is! Or if you haven't used a CLI or IDE AI tool, why?
A bit of additional background, I'm not a develpoer but more of a "vibe coder" I can kinda understand different languages and don't mind diving into tech docs but I prefer AI do more of the coding than me :)
Replies
I feel you, Cursor’s visual vibe is perfect for precise tweaks especially considering I don't trust it enough unsupervised, but Gemini CLI in Warp just bulldozes through the heavy lifting without my constant micromanagement. So naturally, I’m now recently doing a hybrid: Gemini for scaffolding and things like that, but Cursor still works just fine when I need fine-grained control. I need a better flow though, I'm not gonna lie.
There are terminal CLIs inside of IDEs. You can literally use both. Why are you acting like you need to choose?