AI coding tools achieve around 40% success on isolated React tasks like component scaffolding but drop to 25% on multi-step integrations due to a complexity cliff in state management and design decisions. Models excel at logic and explicit requirements but struggle with design taste, UI aesthetics, and architectural judgment. Success depends less on model selection and more on context engineering, explicit constraints, stepwise workflows, and treating AI as a junior teammate requiring oversight. React developers should delegate boilerplate while maintaining control over API design, architecture, and design intent, using structured prompts with detailed requirements, accessibility specs, and guardrails to prevent generic outputs
