Skip to main content
TLDR: Devin can handle the majority of engineering tasks, including medium and hard complexity work. The clearer and more specific your instructions, the higher the success rate — especially for complex tasks. For more comprehensive guidance on working effectively with coding agents, see our Coding Agents 101 guide.

​
Best Practices

 Scope tasks with Ask Devin before implementation:
  • Explore your codebase with Ask Devin’s advanced code search, scope the approach, and let Devin auto-generate a high-context prompt, all before a single line of code is written.
 Run multiple Devins in parallel:
  • Carve out independent tasks and run them simultaneously. Use batch sessions in Advanced Mode to launch many sessions at once, or the Devin API for programmatic orchestration.
  • Return to draft PRs waiting for review.
 Tag Devin on Slack or Teams:
  • Start sessions directly from conversations about bugs, feature requests, or questions. Devin responds in-thread with updates.
 Let Devin close the loop:
  • Enable Devin Review with Auto-Fix so Devin automatically responds to code review comments, fixes flagged bugs, and iterates on CI failures — without you needing to be in the loop. The result: PRs that are ready to merge by the time you look at them.
 Extend Devin’s reach with MCP integrations:
  • Connect Devin to Datadog, Sentry, databases, Figma, Notion, Stripe, and hundreds of other tools via the MCP Marketplace. Devin can investigate production issues, query data, read designs, and more — all within a single session.
 Let Devin test its own work:
  • Devin has a full desktop environment with a shell, IDE, and browser. It can spin up your app locally, click through the UI, take screenshots, record screen recordings, and QA its own changes before opening a PR.
 Automate recurring tasks with Scheduled Sessions:
  • Set up daily or weekly sessions to triage Sentry errors, update dependencies, generate reports, or any other repeatable work.

​
Evaluating Tasks for Devin

When deciding if a task suits Devin, ask yourself:
  1. Can I describe clear success criteria? Tasks with test suites, CI checks, or verifiable outcomes yield the best results.
  2. Is there enough context? Provide relevant files, patterns, docs, or examples. The more context, the better.
  3. Would breaking this down help? For very large projects, split the work into focused sessions that build on each other. You can run them in parallel with batch sessions.
As a rule of thumb: if a task would take you three hours or less, Devin can most likely do it. For longer tasks, break them into smaller sessions.

​
Pre-Task Checklist

Task Definition and Scope
  • Good tasks have a clear start and end, plus explicit success criteria (e.g., passing tests, matching an existing pattern, CI green)
  • For complex tasks, use Ask Devin to collaboratively scope the work before starting a session. Ask Devin can help you investigate the codebase and outline your approach.
Available Context
  • Are there examples or patterns for Devin to follow?
  • Can you provide prototypes, partial code, or existing patterns from the codebase or docs?
  • Are there links, filenames, or design files for Devin to reference?
  • Have you connected relevant MCP integrations (databases, monitoring, design tools)?
Success Validation
  • Tasks with test suites, lint checks, or compilation steps yield better results
  • Devin can test its own work by launching your app and verifying behavior in the browser
  • Enable Devin Review to catch bugs before you even look at the PR
Review Effort
  • With Auto-Fix enabled, Devin responds to review comments and CI failures automatically
  • Ideally, you just need to see that CI passes and the PR is approved
Task Size
  • For large tasks, consider breaking them down into sub-tasks or using batch sessions
  • Splitting large requests into smaller, manageable chunks helps Devin stay on track
  • Try to keep sessions focused (XS, S, or M as measured by Session Insights)

​
Post-Task Review

Monitor Session Trajectory
  • Leverage Session Insights to investigate the session timeline and identify actionable feedback for future sessions
  • If Devin repeatedly encounters session usage limits, the task assigned to it might be too complex
  • If Devin is struggling with its dev environment, revisit the Workspace setup
Learning from Devin’s Mistakes
  • In your future sessions, provide more context or instructions to help Devin get past previous obstacles
  • Consider adding or approving Knowledge so Devin remembers things it learned from previous sessions
  • Use the improved prompt suggested by Session Insights as a starting point for similar future tasks