Claude AI to generate Sigil Plugins? - Page 2

KevinH · 04-09-2026, 04:37 PM

I had 3 different C++ files and their headers that I want to use in a new PrettyPrinter plugin I am creating. These Cpp files made heavy use of C++ Qt Containers along with QString QHash, etc.

First I converted TagLister.cpp/.h to its standalone TagLister.py equivalent with a single github CoPilot (Claude sonnet 4.6) command as it was the most self contained that did not pull in much support code.

Then I used Claude to convert the gitee/sigil-modified XhtmlFromatParser code to python, and that also worked nicely.

Then finally I gave it the PrettyPrinter.cpp.h code that relied on the TagLister and XhtmlFormatParser C++ code along with a prettyprinter.pcss file (that the user edits to change the format) and asked it to convert PrettyPrinter.cpp/.h to python making sure to use the previously created TagLister.py and XhtmlFormatParser.py. It happily did that.

I added some test python code and everything works without a single change needed from what the AI code produced!!

AI code development with the right AI engine like Claude 4.6 is already extremely powerful. It can do its work in the background while you move on to other things. It is even better than having a competent co-op or junior developer at your beck and call!

I am 65 and feel I have about another 8 to 10 years of programming in me yet, but I now honestly believe you could use an AI like Claude to maintain a working project as big as Sigil with little extra help long before I retire from developing completely.

And to think that back in the mid 1970s when I started to get into this new thing called software development that I could be replaced at it within my lifetime!

kovidgoyal · 04-09-2026, 10:52 PM

Yes current LLMs work well for software maintenance. But they do need careful guidance to do things well though (in performant, normalized, maintainable, modular ways). And then when code cant be unit tested in isolation they often fail. So still some need for human oversight. But yes for things like parsing/transformation of data, they are fairly robust as long as you get them to write tests alongwith the code.

04-09-2026, 04:37 PM	#16
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 9,528 Karma: 6774048 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	I had 3 different C++ files and their headers that I want to use in a new PrettyPrinter plugin I am creating. These Cpp files made heavy use of C++ Qt Containers along with QString QHash, etc. First I converted TagLister.cpp/.h to its standalone TagLister.py equivalent with a single github CoPilot (Claude sonnet 4.6) command as it was the most self contained that did not pull in much support code. Then I used Claude to convert the gitee/sigil-modified XhtmlFromatParser code to python, and that also worked nicely. Then finally I gave it the PrettyPrinter.cpp.h code that relied on the TagLister and XhtmlFormatParser C++ code along with a prettyprinter.pcss file (that the user edits to change the format) and asked it to convert PrettyPrinter.cpp/.h to python making sure to use the previously created TagLister.py and XhtmlFormatParser.py. It happily did that. I added some test python code and everything works without a single change needed from what the AI code produced!! AI code development with the right AI engine like Claude 4.6 is already extremely powerful. It can do its work in the background while you move on to other things. It is even better than having a competent co-op or junior developer at your beck and call! I am 65 and feel I have about another 8 to 10 years of programming in me yet, but I now honestly believe you could use an AI like Claude to maintain a working project as big as Sigil with little extra help long before I retire from developing completely. And to think that back in the mid 1970s when I started to get into this new thing called software development that I could be replaced at it within my lifetime! Last edited by KevinH; 04-09-2026 at 04:51 PM.

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04-09-2026, 10:52 PM	#17
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 46,185 Karma: 29626604 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Yes current LLMs work well for software maintenance. But they do need careful guidance to do things well though (in performant, normalized, maintainable, modular ways). And then when code cant be unit tested in isolation they often fail. So still some need for human oversight. But yes for things like parsing/transformation of data, they are fairly robust as long as you get them to write tests alongwith the code.

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