Coding agent
Also called AI coding agent, AI coding assistant, Claude Code, Codex
An AI that works on a software project by itself: it reads the code, makes changes across files, runs tests and reports back.
Early AI coding tools finished your line as you typed. A coding agent takes a whole task. You describe the job ("add a dark mode", "find why checkout fails on Safari"), and it explores the project, plans, edits several files, runs the tests, fixes what broke and hands you the result.
Some run on your own machine, working in your files with your permission. Others run in the cloud, so you can hand over several tasks at once and review them later, like a manager reading a colleague's work.
They've changed how software gets made, and who can make it. The skill shifts from typing code to describing the job well and reviewing what comes back, since the agent will confidently do the wrong thing if the brief is vague.
For example
A developer asks an agent to fix a reported bug before lunch, and comes back to a tested change waiting for review.
Put it to use
Where you'll meet coding agent in ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, how to use it there, and the mix-up most people make.
Daily Bytes Plus is in the Android app.