Comment by another_twist

It works for me but I do it incrementally. I use codex. I ignore the hypesters because I was around the last time self driving cars were just few quarters away.

What I do is - I write a skeleton. Then I write a test suite (nothing fancy just 1 or sanity tests). I'll usually start with some logic that I want to implement and break it down into XYZ steps. Now one thing to note here - TDD is very useful. If it makes your head hurt it means the requirements arent very clear. Otherwise its relatively easy to write test cases. Second thing, if your code isnt testable in parts, it probably needs some abstraction and refactoring. I typically test at the level of abstraction boundaries. eg if something needs to write to database i'll write a data layer abstraction (standard stuff) and test that layer by whatever means are appropriate. Once the spec reaches a level where its a matter of typing, I'll add annotations in the code and add todos for codex. Then I instruct it with some context, by this time its much easier to write the context since TdD clears out the brain fog. And I tell it to finish the todos and only the todos. My most used prompt is "DONT CHANGE ANYTHING APART FROM THE FUNCTIONS MARKED AS TODO." I also have an AGENTS.md file listing any common library patterns to follow. And if the code isnt correct, I'll ask codex to redo until it gets to a shape I understand. Most of the time it gets things the 2nd time around, aka iteration is easier than ground 0. Usually it takes me a day to finish a part or atleast I plan it that way. For me, codex does save me a whole bunch of time but only because of the upfront investment.

You personally should just ignore the YouTubers most of them are morons. If you'd like to checkout AI coding flows, checkout the ones from the masters like Antirez, Mitchell H. Thats a better way of learning the right tricks.