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.