Code-Writing Agents

Create agents that write, debug, and optimize code autonomously

What Coding Agents Can Do

Modern coding agents have four core capabilities: generation, debugging, refactoring, and testing. Each has different difficulty levels and reliability. Understanding when to use each is key to effective agent deployment.

Interactive: Capability Explorer

Explore each capability with difficulty and reliability metrics:

Code Generation

Write new code from specifications. Agent reads requirements, plans architecture, generates implementation.

Task Difficulty40%
Reliability85%
Example

Input: "Add user authentication with JWT tokens". Output: Complete auth system with login, signup, middleware, tests.

The Agent Workflow

1. Context Gathering 🔍

Agent reads codebase, understands architecture, identifies relevant files. Builds mental model of system.

2. Planning 📋

Break task into steps. Decide which files to modify. Plan test strategy. Consider edge cases.

3. Implementation 💻

Generate code across multiple files. Maintain consistency. Follow existing patterns and style.

4. Verification ✅

Run tests, check types, validate logic. Iterate if tests fail. Only stop when all checks pass.

💡
When to Use Each Capability

Code Generation: New features, boilerplate, API endpoints. High reliability for standard patterns.
Debugging: Production bugs, error traces, regression issues. Agents excel at hypothesis testing.
Refactoring: Legacy code, technical debt, performance optimization. Verify with extensive tests.
Testing: Always. Generate tests for everything. Increase coverage from 30% to 80%+ automatically.

Introduction