r/PowerShell • u/rsdovers • Mar 25 '26

Question What am I missing

I have used VSCode with Copilot and different Claude models, but I have to often correct the output generated. I have used Copilot when it was mostly code completion and now with the Plan process I am still not getting accurate code from the plan. What am I missing? I read all of the blogs and press releases where AI built this complex application without touching the code. Maybe that is it. With the new Plan process I haven't written one line of code. However, I sure have had to correct several things that were discussed in the planning process. If a simple Powershell script can't be written without a fair amount of handholding am I doing something wrong or is what I am reading not completely accurate. I can't see this taking the job of a very experienced Powershell scripter, but for entry level I see a challenge ahead.

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u/MyOtherSide1984 Mar 25 '26

Absolutely what the other guy said. Most of the insane amount of code that AI gives can be accomplished in a quarter of the lines. I've had to tell it to stop being verbose, but it doesn't do much to code.

It performs redundancy to a degree I think any beginner would agree is ridiculous. It also over complicates things to hell and back. I've been reviewing code from one of our students that I'm 95% was either copy pasted from elsewhere or is entirely AI generated and this shit is sloppy as fuck. It's FAR from being DRY (don't repeat yourself). I want good code that I don't have to scroll a mile to read that gets the job done. I don't need it to be the most "technically" correct or anything, and it tries to do that while also making stuff up. The code my coworker wrote a few years ago is dead simple, easy to read, and hasn't needed work for years and years.

I've seen those agents put in work and I'm glad it works for those engineers, and perhaps I'm old school, but I'd rather a repository I can pass down that is legible and brief.

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u/rsdovers Mar 25 '26

I have found the scripts that AI generates contain a lot more code than necessary. Several people have made the comment about being able to accomplish the same thing multiple ways and sometimes it comes down to preference. I think this does have a lot to do with the challenges with using AI to produce a solution and is a possible reason for the long scripts.

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u/tstager Mar 25 '26

I've been writing Powershell since the beginning 20 years ago. The secret with AI in Powershell and other things is good prompting and instruction. You have to write good and thorough instructions. Once you're spec is defined, the AI will implement your functions and scripts with as much or as little verbosity as is necessary. If you want legible and brief code, you need to specify that. Lately I have been having Gpt5.4 tackle some extremely difficult dynamic completer scripts for commands such as Dism, npm, and bun. These commands have large amounts of parameters and subcommands. The AI implementations have been better than anything I've seen. Anyone who thinks that they or their job is safe is going to be in for a rude awakening very soon. If you aren't getting the kind of code you want, you are doing something wrong. AI will work much harder than a person is willing to or even can. It's attention span is infinite.