# The Live Coding Interview With AI Allowed: How It Plays Out in 2026 Source: https://www.techinterview.org/post/3233475398/live-coding-interview-ai-allowed-2026/ Updated: 2026-07-12 · techinterview.org "AI is allowed during this interview" is a sentence more candidates hear in 2026 than in 2022 ever imagined. The format varies: some companies say "use AI freely", others "use AI as you would on the job, narrate your decisions." The interviewer's eyes are different than in a no-AI interview. This guide is for the candidate trying to perform well in this format. ## The companies running this format - AI-tooling companies (Cursor, Claude, Windsurf), naturally - Engineering-forward SaaS (Linear, Vercel, Notion), increasingly - Some BigTech roles, especially those targeting AI fluency - YC-stage startups, often informal but allowed ## The shape of the interview - 60–90 minutes, screen-shared - A real-feeling problem: build something or solve a non-trivial bug - Open editor with AI assistant of choice (Cursor, Copilot, etc.) - Interviewer observes, asks questions throughout - Less LeetCode, more "implement this small feature" ## What the interviewer is grading - Can you decompose the problem clearly before reaching for AI? - Do you know what you want before you prompt? - Can you read the AI's output critically? - Do you verify behavior, not just compile? - Are you efficient at iterating prompts? - Do you handle the AI being wrong without panicking? ## What the interviewer is NOT grading - Whether you remember syntax (you can ask the AI) - Whether you can write code from scratch faster than AI can - Whether you have memorized algorithm details The bar shifts toward judgment, not recall. ## The first 5 minutes - Restate the problem in your words - Ask clarifying questions about scope, edge cases, performance - Sketch the approach: what types, what functions, what data flow - Decide on a project structure - Tell the interviewer your plan before opening the editor This step is where many candidates lose the interview before they have written code. Skipping it makes the rest look reactive. ## The middle: shipping - Implement the plan; use AI for boilerplate, scaffolding, tedious parts - Read each AI suggestion before accepting - If AI produces wrong output, do not just re-prompt; diagnose - Run the code; verify behavior - Add tests proactively (most expected; signals seniority) - Talk through what you are doing ## Common pitfalls - Pasting an AI answer without reading is the most-watched failure mode - Re-prompting until something works without understanding why signals lack of grounding - During long silences, talk through your thinking; the interviewer cannot read your screen as fast as you - When stuck on AI being wrong, diagnose; do not blame the tool - Skipping verification, treating "compiled OK, ship it" as done, is a junior signal ## The verification habits to demonstrate - Run the code with sample input - Run a quick sanity test — is the output what you expected? - Add unit tests, even small ones - Discuss edge cases the AI missed ## The narration Talk while you work: - "I am asking AI for a function that does X; I want to verify the boundary handling" - "That suggestion is close but does not handle the empty case; let me adjust" - "I am going to write the test first to make sure I understand the requirement" - "I am skipping the AI here because the logic is small enough I want full control" This narration is the new "show your work." ## Specific tactics that help - Have your AI tool warmed up; do not waste interview time on setup - Use the IDE's diff view to compare AI suggestions to your intended change - Maintain a small mental checklist: clarify, decompose, implement, verify - If you finish early, ask "want me to extend this to handle X?" ## What gets you the offer - Calibrated trust in AI output - Verification habits - Articulate decomposition before coding - Pragmatic prompt iteration - Clear narration of decisions - A candid "this is not my strongest area" when relevant ## What gets you rejected - Pasting and shipping without checking - Long silences - Confidently wrong narration ("the AI got it right" when it did not) - Treating AI like an oracle rather than a peer - No tests, no verification ## The "AI is forbidden" alternative Some companies still forbid AI in live coding. If you are interviewing at one: - Sharpen your raw coding skills - Practice without AI for 2 weeks before the interview - Communicate well about decomposition - The same clarify → plan → implement → verify pattern still applies ## What separates senior from staff in AI-allowed interviews Junior with AI: ships features faster than they understand. Senior with AI: uses AI to compress tedious work but holds the design and verification themselves. Staff with AI: directs AI through complex multi-step tasks while monitoring quality, narrating tradeoffs, and demonstrating taste at every decision. The senior signal is judgment in human-AI collaboration. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Should I look up things via AI during the interview? Yes, companies running this format expect it. Asking AI "what is the standard library for X in Python" is fine. Asking "solve this whole problem" without engaging is not. ### What if the AI gives me a perfect answer immediately? Verify. Run it. Add a test. Discuss the edge cases. The fast path increases the bar for verification, not lowers it. ### How do I prepare? Practice on real problems with your AI assistant the way you will in the interview. The narrative habit and the verification habit are the things to build.