Which AI coding model to use for which task

Melvin Vivas · X post · 2026-05-15 · Open on X

Topics: AI Dev Tools & Productivity, LLM Fundamentals · Level: beginner

Summary

The creator shares the models he currently uses for coding, each matched to a type of task. He does most of his coding in Cursor and praises its new Agent Window.

Key points

• GPT-5.5: big refactors and new features.
• Claude Opus 4.7: design tasks.
• Composer 2 (Cursor's model): asking questions, learning and medium-sized tasks.
• Keep a small set of models and pick by task type.
• He uses Cursor for most coding and likes the new Agent Window.

Resources mentioned

• GPT 5.5 · tool · openai.com · paid
  OpenAI models the creator used as the coding model inside Cursor.
  Also in: Models That Work With the Hermes Agent for Personal Productivity (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Running GPT-5.5 via Codex as Hermes's Main Model (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Conductor Walkthrough: Running Parallel Coding Agents in Isolated Git Worktrees (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Composer 2.5 as the Default Coding Model in Cursor (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 2 more
• Claude Opus 4.7 · tool · anthropic.com · paid
  Anthropic's top Opus model, aimed at long-running agentic tasks that need precise instruction following.
  Also in: Shipping Features Fast in Cursor with Multiple AI Models (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Composer 2.5 as the Default Coding Model in Cursor (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Claude Opus 4.7 Fast Mode in Cursor: Speed vs. Cost Trade-off (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Claude Design: Anthropic Labs' Tool for Prototypes, Slides and One-Pagers (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 2 more
• Composer 2 · tool · cursor.com · paid
  Cursor's own frontier coding model, built for agentic coding with high limits and fast speeds.
  Also in: Cursor 3: An Agent-First IDE for Local and Cloud Coding Agents (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Cursor Composer 2 Is Built on Open-Source Kimi K2.5 (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Cursor Releases Composer 2, Its Own Coding Model (Melvin Vivas on X · notes)
• Cursor · tool · x.com · free · recommended by both Bashiri Smith & Melvin Vivas
  AI-native code editor (VS Code with AI built in).
  Also in: GLM 5.3 and GLM 5.3 Flash now in Cursor (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Grok Bot Can Now Hand Off Coding Tasks to Cursor (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Why Plan Mode Still Matters in AI Coding Assistants (Codex, Claude, Cursor) (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Why Plan Mode Still Matters in AI Coding Agents (Codex, Claude, Cursor) (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 121 more

Try this

• Match models to task types: bigger models for large refactors and design, faster models for medium tasks.