Which coding agent should I use?
A short learning video. A renovation company owner with three names on her list and three kinds of work on her booking app, and a software engineer who matches each job to the right kind of coding agent.
What this video shows
Nora has heard three names this month: Claude Code, Cursor and Codex. Her booking app needs one big change (online payments), a few quick fixes, and a long list of small tasks. Sam sorts the work by job. The big change goes to an agent in the terminal that plans and splits the work. The quick fix happens in the editor, where she sees the change next to her code. The small tasks go to the cloud, one workspace each, while she is out on a site visit.
Then come the parts that matter with any tool: a review agent reads each change before a person does, all the agents read one rules file (how to write it is in “How do I make my coding agent follow my rules?”), and each agent gets its own part of the app. The article has a job-by-tool grid, the limits from each tool’s own docs and a 10-minute checklist: read the article.
What you will learn
- The three places a coding agent works: the terminal, the editor and the cloud, and which job fits each.
- Why a person still decides after a review agent has read the change.
- How one rules file and the same tests let a team use two or three agents.
- How to choose for yourself: one real task, two agents, compare the change and the tests.
Further reading
- Anthropic, Claude Code docs: “Overview” and “Subagents”. overview and subagents
- Cursor docs: “Cloud Agents” and “Bugbot”. cloud agents and Bugbot
- OpenAI, Codex docs: “Codex cloud” and “Code review”. Codex cloud and code review
- The Pragmatic Engineer, 3 March 2026: “AI tooling for software engineers in 2026”. newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
If you want coding agents set up for your team, with one rules file and real checks, see how I can help or tell me about your project.
Transcript
0:03 Nora: Which coding agent should I use?
0:07 Sam: Pick by the job. A big change across your app? Use an agent in the terminal, like Claude Code. A quick fix while you read the code? Use an agent in your editor, like Cursor. Many small tasks at once? Send them to the cloud, for example with Codex.
0:26 Nora: Everyone tells me a different name. Claude Code. Cursor. Codex. And this week my booking app needs three kinds of work. One big change. A few quick fixes. And a long list of small tasks.
0:40 Sam: A coding agent can work in three places. In the terminal, for long work. In the editor, for quick changes. And in the cloud, for many small tasks at the same time.
0:54 Sam: First, the big change. Online payments, across the whole app. In the terminal, Claude Code makes a plan and splits the work between helper agents. Each helper works on its own copy of the project.
Nora: And what do I do?
Sam: You read the plan first. Then you check the result.
1:14 Nora: Now a quick fix. The booking page shows the wrong date.
Sam: Open the file in your editor and ask the agent right there. In Cursor you see the change next to your code. Keep it, or undo it.
1:28 Nora: And my long list of small tasks?
Sam: Send each one to the cloud. Codex gives every task its own workspace. They keep working when you close your laptop. Each one comes back as a change for you to check.
1:42 Nora: Do I read every change myself?
Sam: A review agent reads it first and marks the likely bugs. Then a person reads it and decides. The review agent does not approve it for you.
1:55 Sam: Most developers use two or three of these. It works when they all read one rules file, and run the same tests.
2:05 Sam: One more thing. Give each agent its own part of the app. When two different agents change the same files at the same time, their work clashes much more often.
2:17 Nora: So how do I choose?
Sam: Take one real task. Give it to two agents. Compare what each one changed, and whether the tests pass.
Nora: Then I keep the better one, for that kind of job.
2:30 Sam: Pick by the job. Share one rules file and the same tests. Try one real task in two agents.
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