More like a manual. Google has become really shitty for complex queries, LLMs can find relevant keywords, documents much more realiably. Granted, if you are asking questions about niche libraries it hallucinates functions quite often so I never ask it to write full pieces of code but just use it more like a stepping stone.

I find it amusing how shamelessly it lies about its hallucinations though. When I point out that a certain function it makes up does not exist the answer is always sth of the form "Sorry you are right that function existed before version X / that function existed in some of the online documentation" etc lol. It is like a halluception. If you ask it to find some links regarding these old versions or documentations they also somehow don't exist anymore.