AI Coding Workflows

Cursor, Claude Code and Codex side by side: when to use which, and how to stay in charge.

recorded hours: 8
modules, in order: 6
deployed projects: 3
graded checkpoints: 5

Who it is for, and what you receive.

Engineers using Cursor, Claude Code or Codex who want to know which tool to reach for and how to stay in charge.

Before you start

You write software in any language.

Skills

Cursor
Claude Code
Codex
code review

1
The recorded sessions
Taught by an instructor who does the work, taken in order at your own pace, yours for twelve months.
2
Graded work after every module
Exercises and projects marked by Nova against a rubric you can read, with what you did well and what to fix.
3
The projects
Deployed and graded, each one on your record with its repository.
4
Your hiring plan
The same six-part plan the bootcamps use, run with the career agent.
5
The record and the certificate
Every grade at square1ai.com/u/{handle}; a credential ID that resolves at square1ai.com/verify.
6
Nova as your tutor
Help that is about your actual work, because it has read all of it.

The content plan, module by module.

8 recorded hours from an instructor, taken in order at your own pace. Nova grades the work at the end of each module.

1
The landscape and the trade-offs
- In-editor, terminal, cloud
- Cost, speed, control
- Where each fails
Graded
Nothing to submit; watch and take notes
60 min
2
Cursor for in-editor work
- Inline edits
- Chat with context
- Tests inside the editor
Graded
A feature built in Cursor with tests
90 min
3
Claude Code for multi-file tasks
- Plans and reviews
- Project context
- Hooks
Graded
The same feature through Claude Code, compared
90 min
4
Codex for delegated work
- Specs
- Cloud delegation
- Merging
Graded
A delegated task merged
90 min
5
Review discipline
- A checklist
- Reading diffs
- When to reject
Graded
A review checklist applied to agent code
60 min
6
Project: choose the tool per task
- A week of work
- Tool choice per task
- Justification
Graded
A week of work with the tool choice justified
90 min

The projects.

Each is deployed and graded by Nova against a rubric you can read before you start.

1
One feature, three ways
Build the same feature in Cursor, Claude Code and Codex and compare.
You hand in
- Three implementations
- Comparison
The rubric requires
Each implementation passes the same tests.
2
A review checklist
A checklist you apply to agent code, with examples of what it caught.
You hand in
- Checklist
- Caught examples
The rubric requires
The checklist catches a seeded mistake.
3
A justified week
A week of real work with the tool chosen and justified per task.
You hand in
- Work log
- Justifications
The rubric requires
Every task names its tool and why.

What you can do at the end.

You know which tool to reach for and why, with three graded projects on your record.

1
Explain the trade-offs between in-editor, multi-file and delegated agent tools.
2
Build the same feature three ways and compare the results honestly.
3
Apply a review discipline that catches agent mistakes.
4
Choose the tool per task and justify it.

Roles this prepares you for

Software engineer
Engineering lead

No placement rate is shown, because there are no graduates to count yet. The roles above are what the projects are built for.

Your record at the end.

Every exercise and project is graded by Nova against a rubric you can read, and every grade is kept on one page an employer can open and run. This is what the programme writes to it.

Graded, line by line: Nova reads every submission against the brief and the rubric and returns a score, what you did well and what to fix.
Module by module: Each module ends in graded work; the next opens when you are ready, on your own schedule.
Nova remembers: Help is about your actual work, because the tutor has every submission and every failed exercise of yours.
One page an employer can run: Every grade and project at /verify. An employer opens it and runs the code.

Record, AI Coding Workflows

Example

Project
One feature, three ways
Each implementation passes the same tests.
Graded
Project
A review checklist
The checklist catches a seeded mistake.
Graded
Project
A justified week
Every task names its tool and why.
Graded
Every module
5 graded checkpoints
Each module ends in work Nova grades line by line against a rubric you can read.
Graded
After
Your hiring plan
Target roles, the gap map, the proof to send, weekly actions and an interview log.
Kept

The entries, not the grades: those are yours to earn. The page lives at /verify and an employer needs no account to open it.

5 entries, at your own pace. One email when this course opens.

How we help you find a job.

Proof, not a certificate: the projects you deployed are the thing you show, and the tools below are yours to use.

1
Your hiring plan
The same six-part plan the bootcamps use: target roles, the gap map, the proof to send, weekly actions, an interview log, the outcome. You run it with the career agent.
2
A record an employer can run
Your graded projects on /verify. An employer opens it and runs the code.
3
The career agent
Paste a real job posting at /career and it maps the role to your graded work and what to do next.
4
The roles directory
Every role we prepare people for, what it pays and what it asks, at /roles.
5
A path to the live cohort
If you want the instructor, the gates and the hiring sprint, the bootcamp on the same subject is one waitlist away.

One email when this course opens.

Recorded by an instructor who does this work, graded by Nova. The waitlist hears the date and the price first, and nothing is charged before it exists.