Code Agent
An AI agent specialized for software engineering work reading codebases, running shell commands, editing files.
A code agent is an AI agent with a coding-specific tool set: read/write files, run terminal commands, run tests, search the web. The coding-specific superpower is the ability to verify its work by actually running things.
Claude Code, Cursor's Composer agent mode, Aider, and Devin are all code agents in different forms. They differ in how much autonomy they take (pure copilot vs full agent) and how they integrate with editors.
Good code agents have strong sandboxing (don't trust them with production), fast iteration loops (run tests early), and deliberate scope (one task at a time). The frontier in 2026 is long-horizon code agents that can take an issue from inbox to merged PR.