Claude code has a VS Code plugin now that lets you view and approve diffs in the editor. Before it did that, I really don't understand how people got anything of substance done because it simply isn't reliable enough over large codebases.
I managed this (and still do) just fine by using source control. Commits are checkpoints and it's trivial (esp. with AI-assisted CLI) to roll things back if needed. Workflow is all about small diffs, with sessions being fine-grained, not about implementing entire features wholesale. Serialize overall plans for feature work as files in the codebase in the interim.
How is viewing and approving diffs in an editor any less reliable than viewing and approving them through the CLI? It won't make any changes without approval (unless you explicitly grant it auto-approval).
