[iLemming]

Well, that's not how a Clojure dev normally would write it. If you're not using the REPL (with or without AI) - you're missing the point/misusing the tool. Therefore "remains shockingly bad" perspective is unfair - it's like using a screwdriver to remove nails while complaining that it keeps bending.

[michaelmrose]

I'm happy to hear any thoughts you have on the best way to make use of it. Presently I use emacs and cider but I'm not altogether unhappy with IntelliJ or VSCode

[iLemming]

So yes, you're already using Clojure REPL with CIDER, right? Then why not make AI use it as well? You can do that directly from Emacs, with ECA¹ for example. Which on its own won't change anything - it still be in that batch-style mode - LLM spawns process -> reads stdout/stderr -> spawns next process. What you'd need on top of that is an MCP that "understands" nrepl. You can find many different ones, I built my own (written in Clojure, runs with babashka)²

Alternatively, you can use Dmitry Sotnikov's agentic tool³. Dima is a well-known Clojurista (with published books, etc.) I have not tried that myself because I prefer staying in Emacs, but it might be even easier choice for someone else.

---

¹ https://eca.dev

² https://github.com/agzam/death-contraptions/tree/main/tools/...

³ https://dirge-code.github.io

[michaelmrose]

I'm an amateur with a tiny budget using the method which is most approachable to try it out.