Demo Inline AI Edits

In this guide, you’ll learn how to use inline AI-assisted editing directly within your code editor. We’ll compare two common modes—separate chat windows versus inline prompts—and demonstrate how inline editing can streamline your workflow and reduce context switching.

Why Inline AI Editing?

• Keeps you in the flow of coding
• Provides suggestions as diffs you can accept or reject
• Accelerates prototyping, refactoring, and helper-function generation

Example: Simple Flask Authentication

Below is a minimal Flask app that demonstrates password hashing, an authentication decorator, and basic routes. We’ll use this code to show inline AI-powered enhancements.

# app.py
import hashlib
import functools
from flask import Flask, request, session, redirect, url_for, flash

app = Flask(__name__)
app.secret_key = 'your-secret-key'

def hash_password(password: str) -> str:
    """Simple password hashing (not secure for production)."""
    return hashlib.sha1(password.encode()).hexdigest()

def login_required(view):
    """Decorator to ensure a user is logged in."""
    @functools.wraps(view)
    def wrapped_view(**kwargs):
        if 'user_id' not in session:
            return redirect(url_for('login'))
        return view(**kwargs)
    return wrapped_view

@app.route('/')
def index():
    if 'user_id' in session:
        return redirect(url_for('dashboard'))
    return redirect(url_for('login'))

@app.route('/register', methods=['GET', 'POST'])
def register():
    error = None
    if request.method == 'POST':
        username = request.form.get('username', '').strip()
        password = request.form.get('password', '').strip()
        if not username:
            error = 'Username is required.'
        elif not password:
            error = 'Password is required.'
        else:
            # Insert user into the database...
            pass
    return f"Register Page. Error: {error}"

Inline Prompt vs Separate Chat

Most AI coding tools offer two modes. Choose based on your task:

Generating a Helper Function Inline

1. Highlight the code location.
2. Invoke the inline prompt (⌘-K / Ctrl-K).
3. Ask for a helper function, e.g., “Create a function to reverse a string.”

The AI will generate:

def reverse_string(s: str) -> str:
    """
    Reverses a string.

    Args:
        s (str): The string to reverse.

    Returns:
        str: The reversed string.
    """
    return s[::-1]

Green lines indicate additions; red lines show removals. Press ⌘-Y / Ctrl-Y to accept or ⌘-N / Ctrl-N to reject.

Evolving Code with Inline Edits

You can request optimizations or new features inline. For example, add logging and error handling to your login_required decorator:

def login_required(view):
    """Decorator to ensure a user is logged in, with logging and error handling."""
    @functools.wraps(view)
    def wrapped_view(**kwargs):
        try:
            if 'user_id' not in session:
                app.logger.warning(f"Unauthorized access attempt to {request.path}")
                flash("Please log in to access this page", "error")
                return redirect(url_for('login'))
            return view(**kwargs)
        except Exception as e:
            app.logger.error(f"Error in login_required decorator: {e}")
            flash("An unexpected error occurred. Please try again.", "error")
            return redirect(url_for('login'))
    return wrapped_view

By refining code inline, you maintain momentum and iterate faster on performance, security, and feature improvements.

When to Use Each Mode

• Separate Chat
  • Deep architectural discussions
  • Reviewing or documenting large codebases
• Inline Prompt
  • Fast helper functions
  • Small bug fixes or refactors
  • Localized testing and debugging

Experiment with both to find the balance that boosts your productivity and minimizes context switching.

Links and References

• Flask Documentation
• Python hashlib Module
• bcrypt on PyPI