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Coding agents

Coding agents are AI systems that take a software task, such as fixing a bug or adding a feature, and carry it out over many steps: reading code, editing files, running commands and tests, and returning a change for review. This page covers how they work, how they are measured and where they fail.

51 stories · updated Oct 29

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Key facts

Checked Oct 9

Canonical agent vs workflow definition: Anthropic, "Building effective agents," December 19, 2024
Original benchmark: SWE-bench: 2,294 GitHub issues, 12 Python repos (arXiv 2310.06770, Oct 10, 2023)
SWE-bench Verified: OpenAI stopped evaluating on it (Feb 23, 2026), citing flawed tasks and contamination; recommends SWE-bench Pro
Claude Code default mode: Auto mode is the built-in starting permission mode for interactive terminal and VS Code sessions from v2.1.283
GitHub naming: "Copilot cloud agent" (formerly Copilot coding agent)
Example products: Claude Code (GA May 22, 2025), Codex (cloud agent May 16, 2025), Cursor, GitHub Copilot
Shared instruction format: AGENTS.md, a founding project of the Agentic AI Foundation (Dec 9, 2025)

Start here

Agents · ExplainerWhat "agentic" really means in 2026Every AI product now calls itself agentic. Here's the definition the labs themselves use, how the tool loop works, and how to tell a real agent from a relabeled chatbot.Oct 9·6 min read

Agents · CompareClaude Code vs Codex vs Cursor: features, prices and limits compared (October 2026)All three now run in the terminal, the IDE and the cloud. The real differences are how they meter usage, how they sandbox commands, and which models you get. Verified against official pages.Oct 9·13 min read

Developers · AnalysisQGIS bans AI-assisted code: which open-source projects ban AI contributions, and whyQGIS now rejects any AI-, LLM- or agent-assisted code in its main repository. It joins Gentoo, NetBSD, QEMU and Servo among open-source projects banning AI contributions, while LLVM, curl, llama.cpp and the Linux kernel allow AI help with disclosure. Here's what each policy says and the reasons behind it.Oct 16·9 min read

Latest on Coding agents

Developers · AnalysisStack Overflow questions per month: the 'fewer than 1,000' claim, what the data query counts, and what Stack Overflow says about AIA Hacker News post on October 28, 2026 said Stack Overflow now gets fewer than 1,000 questions a month, citing a Stack Exchange Data Explorer query. The official Stack Exchange API counts 969 in September 2026. Here's what that kind of count includes and leaves out, why the latest month can look lower than it is, what earlier reports said, and what Stack Overflow's own survey says about AI.Oct 29·9 min read

Industry · AnalysisDoes AI make you work more? What the data says about AI and longer hoursDoes AI make you work more? An October 27, 2026 essay says AI agents left its author working harder than ever. The largest studies find no change in paid hours, but surveys, a time-use study and fieldwork point to more intense, longer days. What each study measured, and what it can't show.Oct 29·9 min read

Developers · AnalysisOpen source AI-generated code policy: r/opensource bans AI-made and solo projects, and where Debian, Linux, curl, Gentoo and QEMU draw their linesOpen source AI-generated code policy is now being set by communities as well as projects. On October 24, 2026, Reddit's r/opensource moderators banned projects that use AI, are made by AI or are intended for AI. Here's that rule next to the documented policies of Debian, the Linux kernel, curl, Gentoo, NetBSD, QEMU and Firefox, with dates and exact wording.Oct 27·9 min read

Industry · NewsReplit shifts AI spend from Anthropic to OpenAI, as reported: what Replit has said and what's unconfirmedReplit switched AI spending from Anthropic to OpenAI after OpenAI offered more than 30% off a contract worth over $100 million a year, The Information reported on October 24, 2026, according to The Decoder. What Replit's CEO has said on the record, what Replit's docs show, and what remains unconfirmed.Oct 26·5 min read

Developers · NewsCursor Computer Use: Cursor's agent can now drive desktop apps and the iOS SimulatorCursor Computer Use, announced October 23, 2026, lets Cursor's agents click and type in desktop apps such as the iOS Simulator to test what they build. What Cursor has confirmed, what its docs say about permissions, and what it hasn't said yet.Oct 26·5 min read

Agents · NewsNVIDIA OpenShell: the open-source runtime that sandboxes fleets of AI agents, and what it actually enforcesNVIDIA OpenShell is an Apache 2.0 runtime that runs AI agents such as Claude Code and Codex in sandboxes, checks every network request against a policy and keeps real credentials out of the agent's reach. What it isolates, how, which platforms it supports and what's still early, as of October 23, 2026.Oct 24·6 min read

Developers · GuideLiteLLM 1.107.0 PyPI compromise: which versions and Docker tags were affected, how to check, and what to rotateThe LiteLLM 1.107.0 PyPI compromise put a credential stealer and a GitHub-driven backdoor into every 1.107.0 wheel and four Docker tags on October 21, 2026. Which versions are safe, how to check your machines, and what LiteLLM says to rotate.Oct 24·8 min read

Open source · NewsRecursive Flint: an Apache 2.0, 40B coding model with 2.5B active parameters and a self-reported 89.7% on SWE-bench Pro v2Recursive Flint is a 40B-parameter mixture-of-experts coding model with about 2.5B active parameters, released under Apache 2.0 on October 21, 2026. Its 89.7% on SWE-bench Pro v2 is Recursive's own number and wasn't on Scale AI's leaderboard as of October 22.Oct 24·5 min read

Developers · ExplainerAI web search APIs compared (October 2026): DeepSeek Search/Fetch vs OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and PerplexityAn AI web search API comparison for October 2026: DeepSeek's new $0.75-per-1,000 Search and Fetch APIs against OpenAI's and Anthropic's $10-per-1,000 search tools, Google's grounding at $14 per 1,000 after a free allowance, Perplexity's Search and Agent APIs, and Brave, Exa and Tavily, with what each returns, free tiers, limits, citation rules and data retention.Oct 20·11 min read

Agents · AnalysisShipping AI-written code you don't understand: what the evidence says about 'comprehension debt', and what teams are doing about itShipping AI-written code you don't understand is now a mainstream worry, with an October 19, 2026 Ask HN thread drawing hundreds of replies. Here's what studies from Harvard, METR, Anthropic, Stack Overflow and DORA actually measured, what cases like PostgreSQL 19 show, and which review rules the official tools and projects document.Oct 20·9 min read

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