John Lindquist is the co-founder of egghead.io and an expert in leveraging AI tools for professional software development. In this episode, John shares advanced techniques for using AI coding tools like Claude Code and Cursor that go far beyond basic prompting. He demonstrates how senior engineers can use mermaid diagrams for context loading, create custom hooks for automated code quality checks, and build efficient command-line tools that streamline AI workflows.

What you’ll learn:

How to use mermaid diagrams to preload context into Claude Code for faster, more accurate coding assistance
Creating custom hooks in Claude Code to automatically check for TypeScript errors and commit working code
Building efficient command-line aliases and tools to streamline your AI workflows
Techniques for using AI to generate documentation that works for both humans and machines
How to leverage AI for code investigation and orientation when tackling unfamiliar codebases
Strategies for resetting AI conversations when they go off track