Building Better Webflow Sites with AI

The Elephant in the Room: AI in Web Development

You can't scroll through LinkedIn or a tech blog these days without seeing another headline about AI coming for everyone's jobs. As an ex-developer and now agency owner, I see the hype, and I get the concern. But at Tahi Studio, our view is pretty straightforward: AI isn't here to replace skilled developers. It's here to supercharge them.

We don't see AI as an autonomous pilot that can build a strategic, high-quality website from scratch. We see it as the ultimate co-pilot. It’s a tool that helps us brainstorm, draft code, and iterate on complex ideas faster than ever before. It handles the boilerplate, so we can focus on the architecture, the strategy, and the final 20% of polish that separates a good website from a great one. This article pulls back the curtain on how we use tools like Cursor to augment our Webflow development process, delivering better results for our clients without compromising on quality.

What Exactly is Cursor?

Simply put, Cursor is an AI-first code editor. Think of it like a regular code editor (like VS Code), but with a powerful AI assistant baked right in. This assistant can read your entire project, understand the context of your code, and help you write, edit, and debug it through natural language prompts. Instead of just writing code line by line, you're having a conversation with your project. This shift from manual coding to collaborative creation is where the magic happens, especially when you connect it directly to Webflow.

The Game Changer: Connecting Cursor Directly to Webflow

For years, developing custom code for Webflow involved a clunky, disjointed process. You'd write some code, save it, tab over to Webflow, paste it in, publish, wait, tab to the live site, refresh, and pray. If it was broken, you'd start the whole dance over again. Let's be honest, it's a workflow that belongs in a museum, and frankly, it's a terrible use of a developer's time and a client's budget. This constant context switching is slow and kills creative momentum.

This is where Webflow's Model Context Protocol (MCP) server changes everything. In plain English, the MCP server is a secure bridge that allows an AI tool like Cursor to get real-time, contextual information about your Webflow project. It knows about your sites, your CMS collections, your published items, and more.

How to Set It Up

Connecting Cursor to your Webflow project is surprisingly straightforward. According to the official Webflow documentation, here's the process:

1. First, you'll need to get a Webflow API token. You can generate one from the Webflow API Playground.
2. Next, you add a small configuration snippet to Cursor's settings file. It looks like this:

{
 "mcpServers": {
   "webflow": {
     "command": "npx",
     "args": ["-y", "webflow-mcp-server@0.3.0"],
     "env": {
       "WEBFLOW_TOKEN": "YOUR_API_TOKEN"
     }
   }
 }
}


Once that's done, Cursor is connected. The AI now has a deep understanding of your project's structure, allowing it to generate far more accurate and relevant code. This direct line of communication is the foundation of a modern, efficient Webflow development workflow.

Our Practical Workflow: From Prompt to Polished Code

With Cursor connected, we can move from idea to implementation at a remarkable speed. Here are a few of the most impactful ways we use it in our day-to-day work.

Use Case 1: Rapid GSAP Animations

Creating custom animations with a library like GreenSock (GSAP) is one of the best ways to elevate a website's user experience. It's also traditionally been a time-consuming process. With Cursor, we can draft complex animations in minutes.

The process, often called "vibe coding," is simple:

• We describe the desired animation in a natural language prompt. For example: "Using GSAP and ScrollTrigger, create a staggered fade-in and slide-up animation for all list items within the element that has the ID 'feature-list'."
• Cursor generates the JavaScript code, already aware of our project's structure.
• We can test and refine it almost instantly, without the old code-switch-test cycle.

This allows us to experiment with creative ideas that might have been too time-intensive before. We can quickly see what’s possible, get client feedback on a working prototype, and then have our senior developers refine the code for optimal performance and browser compatibility.

Use Case 2: Complex JavaScript & Custom Apps

Beyond animations, Cursor is brilliant for generating JavaScript for more complex interactions. Because it can read our entire project, it understands our Client-First class names and existing Semantic HTML structure. This means the code it generates is tailored to our project, not generic.

This approach has been validated by industry leaders like Yar, a well-known Webflow Partner, who demonstrated building a full Webflow app called "Clean Styles" with AI assistance. By using AI to generate the initial structure and implement features, he was able to accelerate the development process significantly. This method helps us avoid Technictal Debt from the start by ensuring new code integrates cleanly with the existing foundation.

Use Case 3: Content & SEO Brainstorming

The MCP server connection isn't just for code. It allows the AI to understand your content, too. We can ask contextual questions that help us with strategy:

• When was my site last published?
• Based on my last five blog posts, can you generate some ideas for new articles about Webflow development?
• What are the current SEO issues on my site, and how can I fix them?

This transforms the tool from a simple code generator into a strategic partner, helping us make more informed decisions about content and SEO, ultimately leading to a more effective Webflow CMS strategy for our clients.

Quality is Non-Negotiable: Our AI Code Review Process

This is the most important part. AI is a fantastic accelerator, but it is not a replacement for human expertise. Relying on AI-generated code without rigorous oversight is a recipe for disaster. At Tahi Studio, quality is our cornerstone, which is why we've built a robust framework for working with AI.

The Human-in-the-Loop is Essential

Our philosophy is that AI gets you 80% of the way there, often in a fraction of the time it would take manually. But the final 20% is where a senior developer's expertise is critical. This is where we refine, debug, and optimise the code. We ensure it's not just functional but also performant, accessible, and scalable. This human oversight is what true quality Webflow debvelopment really means.

Our process looks like this:

1. AI Drafts: We use Cursor to generate the initial code for a feature or animation.
2. Developer Refines: A senior developer reviews every line. They check for efficiency, ensure it follows accessibility best practices, and optimise it for performance.
3. Rigorous Testing: We conduct thorough Quality Assurance (QA) Testing across multiple browsers and devices to ensure a flawless user experience.

The Strategic Blind Spot: Why a Human Guide is Irreplaceable

Here's the candid truth: AI is a phenomenal tool for executing well-defined tasks, but it has no understanding of your business. It can't sit in a strategy session and grasp the nuance of your five-year growth plan. It doesn't know your ideal customer, your brand's unique voice, or the competitive landscape you operate in.

This is the strategic blind spot. An AI can write code to build a feature, but it can't tell you *if* you should build that feature in the first place. That requires a human partner who understands your goals. Our job isn't just to build things correctly; it's to build the *correct things*. That's a distinction AI can't make, and it’s at the heart of our role as your guide.

Documentation and Commit Standards

To maintain clarity and accountability, we have strict documentation standards. When AI-generated code is committed to a project, the commit message clearly states that it was AI-assisted and has been reviewed by a developer. This transparency is crucial for long-term project maintenance and ensures anyone on the team can understand the code's origin.

The Real Benefits: What This Means for Our Clients

Adopting this AI-assisted workflow isn't just about making our lives easier; it directly translates into tangible benefits for our clients.

• Faster Iteration: We can bring creative ideas to life and test complex interactions much more quickly. This means more room for creativity and a better final product, without an endless budget.
• A Focus on What Matters: By automating the boilerplate, we invest our time where it delivers the most value: on strategy, user experience, and performance optimisation. You're paying for our strategic guidance, not for us to manually type code an AI can draft in seconds. This means your budget goes further, focused on work that directly impacts your business goals. For a clear breakdown of how this value works, see our subscription plans.
• Higher Quality Foundations: Starting with context-aware code helps us build more robust and scalable websites. This leads to better performance, which is a key part of building a more sustainable and environmentally friendly website.

Conclusion: AI as a Partner, Not a Replacement

The integration of AI tools like Cursor into the Webflow ecosystem is undeniably one of the most exciting developments in recent years. The key, as with any powerful tool, is knowing how to wield it. We use AI as a partner to enhance our craft, not as a shortcut to replace it.

The strategic thinking, the creative problem-solving, the commitment to quality, and the final human polish - that's what defines a true partnership. AI helps us move faster, but it's the human guide who ensures we're always moving in the right direction. Your direction.

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