Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In this session, Alec Swanson -- Senior Software Engineer at Arize AI -- walks through they key differences between Cursor and Claude Code. Then, he dives into some tips for getting the most out of Claude Code specifically with concrete tactics for speeding up your development loop. He also covers advanced tips like MCP + Playwright, parallelizing work with git worktrees, and voice-to-text with Whisper.
Learn more about Arize's tool for tracing Claude Code: arize.com/blog/claude-code-observability-and-tracing-introducing-dev-agent-lens
More on the difference between Claude Code and Cursor & power user tips: arize.com/blog/claude-code-vs-cursor-a-power-users-playbook
⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 Intro & talk overview
00:13 What is Claude Code? (agent loop, tool calls) + Cursor vs. Claude Code
01:30 Plan-first workflow (iterate plan → save → clear context → execute)
03:08 Speeding up the loop (tool use, fast tests/lint/build, rules, TDD, helper scripts)
04:15 Advanced tips (git worktrees, automate plan/review, MCP + Playwright, Whisper)
05:04 Recap & resources
💡 Key takeaways
- Iterate on the plan, not the code.
- Manage context windows; start fresh for execution.
- Tighten the dev loop so the agent can verify changes fast.
- Use git (rollbacks, worktrees) to move safely and in parallel.
Connect with Alec:
linkedin.com/in/alec-swanson
Join the Arize AI community for events, office hours, and tutorials: arize.com/community
In this session, Alec Swanson -- Senior Software Engineer at Arize AI -- walks through they key differences between Cursor and Claude Code. Then, he dives into some tips for getting the most out of Claude Code specifically with concrete tactics for speeding up your development loop. He also covers advanced tips like MCP + Playwright, parallelizing work with git worktrees, and voice-to-text with Whisper.
Learn more about Arize's tool for tracing Claude Code: arize.com/blog/claude-code-observability-and-tracing-introducing-dev-agent-lens
More on the difference between Claude Code and Cursor & power user tips: arize.com/blog/claude-code-vs-cursor-a-power-users-playbook
⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 Intro & talk overview
00:13 What is Claude Code? (agent loop, tool calls) + Cursor vs. Claude Code
01:30 Plan-first workflow (iterate plan → save → clear context → execute)
03:08 Speeding up the loop (tool use, fast tests/lint/build, rules, TDD, helper scripts)
04:15 Advanced tips (git worktrees, automate plan/review, MCP + Playwright, Whisper)
05:04 Recap & resources
💡 Key takeaways
- Iterate on the plan, not the code.
- Manage context windows; start fresh for execution.
- Tighten the dev loop so the agent can verify changes fast.
- Use git (rollbacks, worktrees) to move safely and in parallel.
Connect with Alec:
linkedin.com/in/alec-swanson
Join the Arize AI community for events, office hours, and tutorials: arize.com/community
