Part 1 of 6: The AI-Assisted Development Workflow Series

This is the first installment in a six-part series exploring how AI is transforming modern development workflows. In this series, I’ll walk through my journey of using an AI-assisted development environment effectively, from basic infrastructure setup to advanced architectural enforcement and task orchestration.

Series Overview:

• Part 1: MCP Servers, Ports, and Sharing - Setting up the foundation
• Part 2: ESLint Configuration Refactoring - Cleaning up tooling with AI
• Part 3: Custom Architectural Rules - Teaching AI to enforce design patterns
• Part 4: Task Orchestration - Managing complex refactoring workflows
• Part 5: Project Rules for AI - Creating effective memory banks and guidelines
• Part 6: The Ultimate Design Review - Putting it all together

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately in the world of AI agents… wait, no, that’s not it. The Model Context Protocol. MCP. It’s a fancy way of saying “a way for AI models to talk to tools,” and it’s pretty powerful. But like any new toy, it comes with its own set of “some assembly required” headaches. Today, I want to talk about one of those: managing MCP servers, avoiding port conflicts, and generally keeping your digital workspace from turning into a tangled mess of wires.