Developer-tools

• AMP Code: First Impressions of a Claude Code Competitor

  I tried AMP Code last weekend and came away genuinely impressed. I didn’t think there was anything at Claude Code’s level currently available.

  That said, AMP is in a somewhat unfortunate position. Similar to Cursor, they have to pay the Anthropic tax, and you really want your primary model to be Opus 4.5 for the best results.

  So while I was able to get some things done, once you start paying per token… you feel constrained. I’m speaking from a personal budget perspective here, but I blew through ten dollars of credits on their free tier pretty easily.

  I could see how with billing enabled and all the sub-agents they make super easy to use, you could burn through a hundred-dollar Claude Code Max plan budget in a week, or even a day, depending on your usage.

  What I Really Like

  There’s a lot to appreciate about what AMP is doing.

  Team collaboration is a standout feature. It’s incredibly easy to share a discussion with other people on your team. Being able to collaborate with your team on something using agents is extremely powerful.

  Their TUI is exceptional. I mean, it’s so much better than Claude Code’s terminal interface. They probably have the best TUI on the market right now. It’s definitely better than Open Code.

  Sub-agents work out of the box. All the complicated sub-agent stuff I’ve set up manually for my Claude Code projects? It just comes ready to go with AMP. They’ve made really smart decisions about which agents handle which tasks and which models to use. You don’t have to configure any of it, it’s all done for you.

  The Bottom Line

  I think for enterprise use cases, AMP Code is going to make a lot of sense for a lot of companies.

  For individual developers on a personal budget, the cost model is something to think carefully about.

  Jan 30, 2026 / AI / Developer-tools / Coding-assistants

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• Claude Code’s built-in tasks are pretty solid—they work well for what they do. But I still find myself reaching for Beads. There’s something about having persistent issue tracking that lives with your code, syncs with git, and doesn’t disappear when you close your terminal. Different tools for different jobs, I suppose.

  Jan 24, 2026 / Claude-code / Developer-tools

• Beads: Git-Native Issue Tracking for AI-Assisted Development

  If you’re working with AI coding agents like Claude Code, you’ve probably noticed a friction point: context.

  Every time you start a new session, you’re rebuilding mental state. What was I working on? What’s blocked? What’s next?

  I’ve been using Beads, and it’s changed how I manage work across multiple AI sessions.

  What Makes Beads Different?

  Beads takes a fundamentally different approach. Issues live in your repo as a .beads/issues.jsonl file, syncing like any other code. This means:

  • No context switching: Your AI agent can read and update issues without leaving the terminal
  • Always in sync: Issues travel with your branch and merge with your code
  • Works offline: No internet required, just git
  • Branch-aware: Issues can follow your branch workflow naturally

  The CLI-first design is what makes it click with AI coding agents. When I’m working with Claude Code, I can say “check what’s ready to work on” and it runs bd ready to find unblocked issues. No copying and pasting from a browser tab.

  Getting Started

  Getting up and running takes about 30 seconds:

  # Install Beads
  curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/steveyegge/beads/main/scripts/install.sh | bash
  
  # Initialize in your repo
  bd init
  
  # Create your first issue
  bd create --title="Try out Beads" --type=task
  

  From there, the workflow is straightforward:

  • bd ready shows issues with no blockers
  • bd update <id> --status=in_progress to claim work
  • bd close <id> when you’re done
  • bd sync to commit beads changes

  Why This Matters for AI Workflows

  The real power shows up when you’re juggling multiple tasks across sessions. Your AI agent can:

  1. Pick up exactly where you left off by reading the issue state
  2. Track dependencies between tasks (this issue blocks that one)
  3. Create new issues for discovered work without breaking flow
  4. Close completed work and update status in real-time

  I’ve found this especially useful for longer projects where I’m bouncing between features, bugs, and cleanup tasks. The AI doesn’t lose track because the state is right there in the repo.

  Is It Right for You?

  Beads isn’t trying to replace GitHub Issues for team collaboration or complex project management.

  It’s designed for a specific workflow: developers using AI coding agents who want persistent, agent-friendly task tracking.

  If you’re already working with Claude Code, Aider, or similar tools, give it a try. The setup cost is minimal, and you might find it solves a problem you didn’t realize you had.

  Jan 14, 2026 / Productivity / AI / Developer-tools / Git

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