I recently had the incredible opportunity to speak at GDG Coimbatore about a shift that is fundamentally changing how we build for the web: the integration of AI directly into Chrome DevTools. We all want to "Ship Faster," but the real challenge has always been how to "Debug Smarter."
If you missed the session, I wanted to write up a quick summary of the key updates. We are moving away from blindly staring at timelines and guessing, to having Gemini help us with styling, network issues, and performance without ever leaving the tab.
Here is the breakdown of what I covered and what you need to know.
The Reality Check: It’s Not About Your Laptop
I started the session with a quote that I think every frontend engineer needs to tape to their monitor:
"Performance isn't about your laptop; it's about theirs."
We often build on high-end machines with fiber internet, but the data tells a completely different story. When you look at Core Web Vitals like LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) and INP (Interaction to Next Paint), there is a massive gap between desktop and phone performance. For example, while desktop pass rates for INP might be decent, mobile users are often struggling with responsiveness.
If we want to fix this, we have to stop debugging in a vacuum. I always recommend using the Throttling settings in DevTools. Don't just test on "No throttling." Try mimicking a "Slow 4G" network and slowing down your CPU by 4x or 6x to really feel what your user feels.
The Performance Panel is Evolving
One of the biggest friction points for us developers has always been context switching—running a Lighthouse audit in one tab and then trying to map those findings to a Performance trace in another.
That’s changing. The standalone "Insights" panel is actually being deprecated. Instead, Lighthouse is moving to insight-based audits directly inside the Performance panel.
Now, when you record a trace, you get "Insights Annotations" baked right in. You can drill down into specific metrics like "LCP by phase" or investigate "Layout shift culprits" immediately. It’s designed so we spend "Less Searching, More Finding."
Enter the AI: A Helper, Not a Replacement
This is the part everyone is excited about. We now have "Ask AI" integrated directly into the Console and other panels. It’s powered by Gemini and designed to help us navigate the parts of web development that usually require opening ten new Google tabs.
Here are the three main ways I’ve been using it:
- Fixing Styling Bugs: CSS can be a nightmare. You can now ask the AI to explain a specific element's styles or help you fix layout bugs—like finally figuring out why that one element won't center.
- Analyzing Network Requests: Instead of manually parsing headers, you can ask the AI to look at a failed request or explain what a specific response header implies.
- Understanding Source Files: Let’s be honest, it’s rare that we wrote 100% of the code on our websites. If you are looking at a minified or unfamiliar script, the AI can explain what that file is actually doing.
How to Enable It (And a Word of Caution)
To get these features, you generally need to head into your DevTools Settings, go to Experiments (or the AI innovations tab in newer versions), and toggle on "AI assistance".
However, I have to end with a "Be Careful" warning.
This is Generative AI. It can be wrong. The tool is experimental and might provide inaccurate info, so you should always validate the AI's suggestions with a new recording. My rule of thumb? Keep your fixes small and reversible. Also, keep in mind that your prompts and inspected page data are sent to Google, so be mindful if you are working with sensitive enterprise data.
It’s an exciting time to be building for the web. If you want to dive deeper, check out the official Chrome docs on AI assistance.
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