Your First AI Coding Session

Beginner⏱45 min📖3 min readLesson 3 of 5

Your First AI Coding Session

Walk through a complete AI-assisted coding session using OpenCode. Learn how to ask questions, review code suggestions, and apply changes to your project.

Starting a Session

Launch OpenCode in your project directory:

bash

cd your-project
opencode

The AI agent will automatically detect your project type and provide relevant assistance.

Understanding the Interface

OpenCode v1.x.x
Connected to: gpt-4o
Project: your-project
>

Element	Description
`>` prompt	Ready for your input
`Connected to:`	Shows active LLM provider
`Project:`	Current working directory

Input Commands

Command	Action
Type message	Send to AI
`/help`	Show available commands
`/quit` or `/exit`	Exit OpenCode
`/clear`	Clear conversation
`/history`	Show conversation history

Example Session: Fixing a Bug

Let's walk through a real-world scenario: fixing a bug in a Python function.

Step 1: Describe the Problem

> I have a function that calculates the average of a list, but it's returning 
  wrong results for empty lists. Can you help me fix it?

> Here's the function:
  
  def calculate_average(numbers):
      total = sum(numbers)
      return total / len(numbers)

Step 3: Get the Fix

The AI will analyze your code and suggest:

The issue is that dividing by zero (when the list is empty) raises a 
ZeroDivisionError. Here's the fixed version:

def calculate_average(numbers):
    if not numbers:
        return 0
    total = sum(numbers)
    return total / len(numbers)

Step 4: Apply the Change

> Can you apply this fix to my file at src/utils.py?

OpenCode will use the edit tool to update your file.

Working with Files

Reading Files

> Read the contents of src/main.py

OpenCode uses the read tool to fetch file contents and display them.

Searching Files

> Find all Python files that import requests

OpenCode uses grep to search file contents.

> Find all configuration files in this project

OpenCode uses glob to find files by pattern.

Creating Files

> Create a new Python file at src/helpers.py with a function to validate email addresses

OpenCode uses the write tool to create new files.

Best Practices for Prompts

Be Specific

❌ Vague	✅ Specific
"Fix my code"	"Fix the ZeroDivisionError in calculate_average() when the list is empty"
"Add a function"	"Add a Python function that validates email addresses using regex"
"Optimize this"	"Optimize this SQL query to use an index instead of full table scan"

Provide Context

> I'm working on a Django REST API. The User model has fields: id, email, 
  name, created_at. I need a function to check if a user is active 
  (created within the last 30 days).

Ask Follow-up Questions

> Can you explain why you used datetime.timedelta instead of dateutil.relativedelta?

Using Tools Effectively

The read Tool

> Read src/config.py and explain what each setting does

The bash Tool

> Run the tests in my project using pytest

The grep Tool

> Search for all TODO comments in the codebase

The glob Tool

> Find all JavaScript files in the src/components directory

Handling Errors

When the AI Doesn't Understand

> I need to make the thing better

If the AI asks for clarification, provide more details:

> Sorry, I mean I need to optimize the database query in the UserViewSet 
  to reduce the number of queries from 5 to 1.

When the AI Makes Mistakes

> That's not quite right. The function should return a tuple of (average, count), 
  not just the average.

Saving and Loading Sessions

Save Session

> /save my-session

Load Session

> /load my-session

View History

> /history