Discovering Stagewise: My New Go-To for AI-Powered Frontend Development

Hey everyone! I just stumbled upon a fantastic new tool that I’m super excited to share with you all. It’s called Stagewise, and it’s quickly becoming a game-changer for how I approach frontend UI development with AI code agents.

What is Stagewise?

Stagewise describes itself as “Eyesight for your AI-powered Code Editor.” In essence, it’s an open-source browser toolbar that cleverly connects your live frontend UI directly to your AI code agents running in editors like Cursor or Windsurf. Imagine being able to interact with your web app and your AI coding assistant in a seamless, integrated way – that’s Stagewise!

How It Works Its Magic

I found the setup surprisingly straightforward. Stagewise integrates as an extension within Windsurf or Cursor. Once you install a small snippet into your application, it temporarily adds an overlay to your web app.

This overlay is where the real magic happens:

In-App Chat: You can chat directly within your application’s UI, asking your AI agent to make changes. For example, I could select a button and simply ask Stagewise to “make this yellow” or “increase padding.”
Element Selection: You can select any UI element on your page and then instruct your AI agent to modify it.
Seamless Workflow: The queries you make, along with context like DOM elements and screenshots, are automatically diverted to Windsurf or Cursor. The AI agent processes the request, makes the code changes, and Stagewise updates the page in real-time!

Why I’m Loving Stagewise

This tool is packed with benefits that make my development workflow smoother:

No More Context Switching: I can make UI tweaks and see changes instantly without constantly tabbing between my browser and code editor. This is a huge time-saver, especially for iterative UI adjustments.
API Key Free: It doesn’t require any pesky API keys to get started.
Open Source: I love that it’s an open-source project!
Out-of-the-Box Functionality: It just works, and is customizable with your own configuration file if needed.
Lightweight: It doesn’t impact your application’s bundle size.
Rich Context: Stagewise sends DOM elements, screenshots, and metadata to your AI agent, providing it with all the context it needs.
Direct Comments: You can comment directly on live elements in the browser.
Framework Playgrounds: It even comes with playgrounds for React, Vue, and Svelte.

Integrations & Extensibility

As of now, Stagewise is compatible with:

Cursor
Windsurf

The team is also working on integrating it with GitHub Copilot in VS Code, and support for Cline is planned for the future.

What’s more, Stagewise offers an SDK (via Stagewise Plugins) that lets you extend the browser toolbar with custom UI, actions, and context for your AI-powered workflows. This means you can even build custom ways for your app to communicate with your AI coder.

Getting Started with Stagewise

If you’re using Cursor or Windsurf, getting started is easy:

Install the Extension: Search for “stagewise” in your editor’s extension marketplace (it’s on the VS Code Marketplace) and install it.
Setup Toolbar: In your project, open the command palette (usually Cmd+Shift+P or Ctrl+Shift+P) and run the setupToolbar command. Stagewise will then guide your AI agent to configure itself for your project.
Run Your App: Once set up, run your application. You’ll see the Stagewise prompt box appear, ready for your instructions.

From there, you can start selecting elements or typing requests to your AI agent directly from your app’s interface.

Final Thoughts

I’m genuinely impressed with Stagewise. It streamlines the process of working with AI code agents for frontend tasks by bringing the interaction directly into the browser. It’s particularly useful for those quick UI tweaks that used to involve a lot of back-and-forth. It effectively bridges the gap between visual feedback and code implementation through AI.

I highly recommend giving Stagewise a try if you’re working with AI in Cursor or Windsurf. It’s a smart tool that leverages AI in a very practical and useful way for developers.

Let me know if you’ve tried Stagewise or have any other cool AI coding tools to share!