Preparing for Toptal screening — clarification about allowed tools in live coding interview

Muhammad Dawood Ahmed — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 19:44:25 +0000

Hi everyone,

I'm preparing to apply for Toptal and wanted to clarify a few things about the technical screening and live coding interview from people who have gone through the process recently.

I understand that the interview focuses on problem-solving and reasoning rather than just writing code, which makes sense. My question is specifically about tooling during the live coding session.

Are AI-assisted IDEs such as Cursor or GitHub Copilot allowed if they are used only for syntax assistance or autocomplete (not for generating logic or solving the problem)?

For example:

using autocomplete for language syntax
small syntax corrections
no AI-generated solutions or business logic

Since modern development workflows include such tools, I want to understand what is considered acceptable during Toptal interviews.

I would really appreciate insights from anyone who has recently completed or passed the Toptal screening process.

Thanks in advance!

DEV Community: Muhammad Dawood Ahmed

Preparing for Toptal screening — clarification about allowed tools in live coding interview