Using AI Agents in a Forms-Over-Data Application

Advantages, Gotchas, and Practical Guidance

This document analyzes a common enterprise workflow for a corporate forms-over-data application, highlighting where AI coding agents (Claude Code, JetBrains Junie, GitHub Copilot, etc.) provide value—and where they introduce risk.

The guiding principle throughout:

Hand-build the first “golden path” implementation, then let AI replicate it.

General Strengths and Risks of AI Agents

Where AI Agents Excel

• Repeating established patterns consistently (CRUD, list/detail/edit).
• Generating boilerplate and framework glue code.
• Scaling one correct implementation across many entities.
• Accelerating UI scaffolding once conventions are set.

Where AI Agents Are Risky

• Security boundaries (authentication, authorization, CSRF, sessions).
• Data correctness (transactions, concurrency, idempotency).
• Compliance requirements (PII, audit, retention).
• Propagating subtle bugs at scale.

1. Menu / Navigation Shell (Built by Hand)

Advantages