Building My Blog with AI: A Journey with Cursor and Claude

As a software engineer passionate about exploring cutting-edge technologies, I recently embarked on an exciting project: building this blog using AI-powered development tools. In this post, I'll share my experience of developing a modern, minimalist blog platform using Cursor IDE and Claude AI, and provide insights into how AI can enhance the development workflow.

The Vision

Before diving into the technical details, I had a clear vision for this blog:

• A minimalist, elegant design focused on readability
• Fast performance and SEO optimization
• Modern development practices and tooling
• Easy content management with Markdown
• Responsive design for all devices

Why AI-Assisted Development?

The decision to use AI tools wasn't just about experimenting with new technology. AI assistants offer several concrete benefits:

1. Accelerated Development

   • Rapid prototyping of components
   • Intelligent code suggestions
   • Quick problem-solving for common issues

2. Code Quality

   • Consistent coding patterns
   • Built-in best practices
   • Real-time code review suggestions

3. Learning Opportunities

   • Exposure to modern patterns
   • Understanding different approaches
   • Learning from AI-suggested optimizations

The Tech Stack

After careful consideration and discussion with Claude, I chose a modern, robust tech stack:

Core Technologies

• Next.js: For server-side rendering and static site generation
• TypeScript: For type safety and better developer experience
• Tailwind CSS: For utility-first styling and rapid UI development

Development Tools

• Cursor IDE: AI-powered code editor
• Claude: For advanced AI assistance and pair programming
• Docker: For containerization and consistent deployments
• GitHub Actions: For automated CI/CD

Performance & SEO

• next-seo: For advanced SEO management
• Image Optimization: Using Next.js built-in image optimization
• Static Generation: For optimal performance
• Responsive Images: For better mobile experience

Development Process with AI

1. Project Setup and Structure

The first step was setting up the project structure. Claude helped design a clean, maintainable architecture:

my-blog/
├── components/        # Reusable UI components
│   ├── Layout.tsx    # Main layout wrapper
│   └── PostCard.tsx  # Blog post card component
├── pages/            # Next.js pages
│   ├── index.tsx     # Homepage
│   ├── blog/         # Blog posts
│   └── api/          # API routes
├── lib/              # Utility functions
│   └── posts.ts      # Post handling logic
├── styles/           # Global styles
└── _posts/           # Markdown content

2. Building Core Features

Content Management

I implemented a flexible content management system using Markdown files:

// lib/posts.ts
export function getSortedPostsData() {
  const fileNames = fs.readdirSync(postsDirectory);
  const allPostsData = fileNames.map((fileName) => {
    const slug = fileName.replace(/\.md$/, '');
    const fullPath = path.join(postsDirectory, fileName);
    const fileContents = fs.readFileSync(fullPath, 'utf8');
    const { data, content } = matter(fileContents);

    return {
      slug,
      readingTime: calculateReadingTime(content),
      ...(data as { date: string; title: string; excerpt: string }),
    };
  });

  return allPostsData.sort((a, b) => (a.date < b.date ? 1 : -1));
}

Design System

The design system was built with Tailwind CSS, focusing on:

• Typography scale
• Color palette
• Spacing system
• Component variants

// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      typography: {
        DEFAULT: {
          css: {
            color: colors.gray[700],
            maxWidth: '100%',
            p: {
              color: colors.gray[700],
              lineHeight: '1.75',
            },
            h1: {
              color: colors.gray[900],
              fontWeight: '800',
            },
            // ... more typography styles
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
  plugins: [
    require('@tailwindcss/typography'),
  ],
}

Responsive Layout

The layout system was designed to be responsive from the ground up:

<div className="min-h-screen bg-white">
  <div className="fixed inset-0 bg-[radial-gradient(ellipse_at_top,_var(--tw-gradient-stops))] from-gray-50 to-white -z-10"></div>
  <div className="fixed inset-0 bg-[linear-gradient(to_right,#8080800A_1px,transparent_1px),linear-gradient(to_bottom,#8080800A_1px,transparent_1px)] bg-[size:14px_14px] -z-10"></div>
  <main className="py-12 sm:py-16">
    <div className="max-w-6xl mx-auto px-4 sm:px-6 lg:px-8">
      {children}
    </div>
  </main>
</div>

3. Performance Optimizations

Several performance optimizations were implemented:

1. Image Optimization

   • Next.js Image component for automatic optimization
   • Responsive image sizes
   • Lazy loading

2. Static Generation

   • Pre-rendered pages at build time
   • Incremental Static Regeneration for updates
   • Optimized bundle sizes

3. Code Splitting

   • Automatic code splitting by routes
   • Dynamic imports for heavy components
   • Optimized loading states

4. Deployment Pipeline

The deployment process was automated using Docker and GitHub Actions:

# Dockerfile
FROM node:18-alpine AS builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY package.json yarn.lock ./
RUN yarn install --frozen-lockfile
COPY . .
RUN yarn build

FROM node:18-alpine AS runner
WORKDIR /app
ENV NODE_ENV=production
COPY --from=builder /app/next.config.js ./
COPY --from=builder /app/.next/standalone ./
COPY --from=builder /app/.next/static ./.next/static/
COPY --from=builder /app/public ./public/
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["node", "server.js"]

Challenges and Solutions

1. SEO Optimization

Challenge: Implementing comprehensive SEO without compromising performance. Solution: Implemented a custom SEO configuration:

// next-seo.config.ts
const config: DefaultSeoProps = {
  titleTemplate: '%s - Berkay Özcan',
  openGraph: {
    type: 'website',
    locale: 'en_US',
    url: 'https://berkayozcan.com/',
    siteName: 'Berkay Özcan',
    images: [
      {
        url: 'https://berkayozcan.com/images/og-image.jpg',
        width: 1200,
        height: 630,
        alt: 'Berkay Özcan - Engineering Blog',
      },
    ],
  },
  // ... more SEO configurations
};

2. Mobile Responsiveness

Challenge: Creating a seamless experience across devices. Solution: Implemented a mobile-first approach with responsive design patterns:

<div className="block lg:hidden mb-12">
  <div className="flex flex-col items-center text-center">
    <div className="aspect-square w-24 sm:w-28 rounded-full overflow-hidden">
      <img
        src="/images/profile.jpg"
        alt="Berkay Özcan"
        className="w-full h-full object-cover"
      />
    </div>
    // ... more responsive components
  </div>
</div>

3. Content Management

Challenge: Creating an efficient content management system. Solution: Implemented a Markdown-based system with front matter:

---
title: "Building My Blog with AI"
date: "2024-03-20"
excerpt: "A detailed guide on building with AI"
tags: ["AI", "Web Development"]
---

Content goes here...

Key Learnings

1. AI Integration

   • AI is most effective when used as a collaborative tool
   • Clear prompts yield better results
   • AI can significantly speed up development

2. Development Practices

   • Type safety is crucial for maintainability
   • Component-based architecture improves reusability
   • Performance should be considered from day one

3. Content Strategy

   • Markdown provides flexibility and ease of use
   • Static generation is perfect for blog content
   • SEO should be built into the architecture

Future Improvements

As I continue to develop this blog, here are some planned improvements:

1. Features

   • Dark mode support
   • Comment system integration
   • Newsletter functionality
   • Search capabilities
   • Reading progress indicator

2. Technical

   • Enhanced caching strategies
   • Image optimization improvements
   • Analytics integration
   • Performance monitoring

3. Content

   • RSS feed
   • Series/collections support
   • Related posts
   • Table of contents

Conclusion

Building this blog with AI assistance has been an enlightening experience. The combination of human creativity and AI capabilities has resulted in a modern, performant, and maintainable platform. While AI tools like Cursor and Claude significantly enhanced the development process, they work best as collaborative tools rather than replacements for human developers.

The key is finding the right balance between leveraging AI capabilities and maintaining control over the development process. This project demonstrates that AI can be a powerful ally in modern web development, helping to create sophisticated applications while maintaining high standards of code quality and performance.

For developers interested in AI-assisted development, I encourage you to:

1. Start with clear requirements
2. Use AI tools thoughtfully
3. Validate and understand AI suggestions
4. Focus on maintainable, clean code
5. Keep learning and experimenting

The future of development lies in the synergy between human creativity and AI assistance, and projects like this blog are just the beginning of what's possible.