Why AI Coding Tools Still Don't Understand How Developers Work

Ömer Faruk Duran — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 19:47:56 +0000

We’ve made a lot of progress with AI coding tools.

They can generate code, explain errors, refactor files, write tests, and even work across an entire repository.

But there’s still something I find surprisingly primitive:

Most AI development tools don't really learn the developer using them.

Every developer has a different way of working.

Some prefer short functions. Others don't.

Some want detailed explanations before changing anything. Others want the AI to just make the change.

Some use specific frameworks, libraries, naming conventions, Git workflows, and project structures.

Some want AI to be highly autonomous. Others want to approve every important decision.

Yet most tools treat these preferences as configuration.

You set them once, put them in a rules file, or explain them in a prompt.

Then you do it again in another project.

And again with another tool.

What if the workspace learned instead?

This is the idea I've been exploring with Just For You.

Instead of thinking of an AI coding tool as something that simply generates code, I'm experimenting with the idea of a development workspace that gradually builds an understanding of how the developer works.

I call this Developer DNA.

The goal isn't to secretly make decisions for you.

It's to gradually understand things like:

how you structure code
which tools and frameworks you prefer
how you like AI to communicate
how you approach debugging
how your workflow changes between projects
which preferences are persistent and which are project-specific

There's also a Workspace Brain, which is focused on maintaining project and team context.

And rather than forcing developers into a specific AI provider, Just For You supports Bring Your Own AI, allowing developers to use their own API keys and preferred providers.

Why build another development workspace?

I don't think we need another tool that simply puts an AI chat box next to a code editor.

The interesting question for me is:

Can the development environment itself become personalized?

Instead of developers constantly adapting to their tools, the tools could gradually adapt to the developers.

That's the experiment behind Just For You.

You can check it out here:

https://justforyou.pro

It's still early, so I'm especially interested in feedback from developers:

What parts of your development workflow would you actually want an AI workspace to remember?

And perhaps more importantly:

What should it never remember or assume about you?

DEV Community: Ömer Faruk Duran

Why AI Coding Tools Still Don't Understand How Developers Work