Agentic Coding

Agentic coding describes a class of AI-developer tools that go beyond inline autocomplete. Instead of suggesting the next line, an agentic tool plans a multi-step task, opens and edits multiple files, runs commands, observes outputs, and adjusts.

Why it matters

Traditional autocomplete (like older GitHub Copilot) is reactive: it predicts the next token based on what you're writing. Agentic tools (Claude Code, Cursor Composer, Windsurf Cascade) are proactive: you describe a goal, and the agent decomposes it into steps it can execute.

Common features of agentic coding tools:

Multi-file context awareness — the agent reads related files before editing.

Plan mode — the agent shows you the plan before executing.

Tool use — the agent can run shell commands, search, and read documentation.

Sub-agents or parallelism — long tasks can be split across worker agents.