Two tools, two shapes of work
The wrong question is "which one is better." They're built for different shapes of work, and a normal building day uses both. Here's the line that splits them.
Chat is for thinking
Open a chat when the thing you need is understanding, not a change to your files:
- "What are three ways to structure this project?"
- "Explain what this error means."
- "Draft a message to my team about the deadline slip."
- "I'm stuck. Talk me through the options."
The output of thinking is a decision or a draft in your head. The chat is great at that, and it never touches your machine, so it's a calm place to explore.
CLI is for doing
Open the CLI when the thing you need is a change to real files:
- "Create these four files with this starter content."
- "Go through this folder and fix every broken link."
- "Run this program and tell me why it crashed."
- "Rename these images to a consistent pattern."
The output of doing is your folder, changed. That's work the chat can only describe and you'd have to perform by hand.
The honest workflow
Most real tasks are think-then-do. You open a chat to figure out what the project should be. Then you open the CLI in a folder and tell it to build what you decided. Thinking up front, doing in the terminal.
A useful tell: if you find yourself about to copy something out of a chat and paste it into a file, that's the moment the task outgrew the chat. That copy-paste is the job the CLI was made to take off your hands.
Two tools, two shapes of work
The wrong question is "which one is better." They're built for different shapes of work, and a normal building day uses both. Here's the line that splits them.
Chat is for thinking
Open a chat when the thing you need is understanding, not a change to your files:
- "What are three ways to structure this project?"
- "Explain what this error means."
- "Draft a message to my team about the deadline slip."
- "I'm stuck. Talk me through the options."
The output of thinking is a decision or a draft in your head. The chat is great at that, and it never touches your machine, so it's a calm place to explore.
CLI is for doing
Open the CLI when the thing you need is a change to real files:
- "Create these four files with this starter content."
- "Go through this folder and fix every broken link."
- "Run this program and tell me why it crashed."
- "Rename these images to a consistent pattern."
The output of doing is your folder, changed. That's work the chat can only describe and you'd have to perform by hand.
The honest workflow
Most real tasks are think-then-do. You open a chat to figure out what the project should be. Then you open the CLI in a folder and tell it to build what you decided. Thinking up front, doing in the terminal.
A useful tell: if you find yourself about to copy something out of a chat and paste it into a file, that's the moment the task outgrew the chat. That copy-paste is the job the CLI was made to take off your hands.