Ive been doing this exactly "manual" setup (actually after a while I jsut wrote a few browser drivers so it is much more snappier but I am getting ahead).
I started with GPT which gave mediocre results, then switched to claude which was a step function improvement - but again grinded when complexity got a bit high. Main problem was after a certain size it did not give good ways break down your projects.
Then I switched to Gemini. This has blown my mind away. I dont even use cursor etc. Just plain old simple prompts and summarization and regular refactoring and it handles itself pretty well. I must have generated 30M tokens so far (in about 3 weeks) and less 1% of "backtracking" needed. i define backtracking as your context has gone so wonky that you have to start all over again.
I started with GPT which gave mediocre results, then switched to claude which was a step function improvement - but again grinded when complexity got a bit high. Main problem was after a certain size it did not give good ways break down your projects.
Then I switched to Gemini. This has blown my mind away. I dont even use cursor etc. Just plain old simple prompts and summarization and regular refactoring and it handles itself pretty well. I must have generated 30M tokens so far (in about 3 weeks) and less 1% of "backtracking" needed. i define backtracking as your context has gone so wonky that you have to start all over again.