RefThe Coding Agent Is Dead

The Coding Agent Is Dead

The Coding Agent Is Dead

Amp's announcement that current generation of coding agents is dead — newest models (GPT-5.3-Codex) now fully trained for agent behavior, making wrapped prompts/tools no longer the limiting factor; killing editor extensions to unshackle models.

The Coding Agent Is Dead

Summary

The current generation of coding agents is dead — not dead yet, but inevitably dying. With newest models (GPT-5.3-Codex), the agent (prompts and tools wrapped around model) is no longer the limiting factor. Models now fully trained to act as coding agents. Simple tools like bash are often enough.

New bottlenecks: How you organize your codebase for agents, how your organization uses them.

Amp's response: Killing editor extensions for VS Code and Cursor. Unshackling models from editor sidebar. These models want to write code and run even when you're not sitting in front of editor — time to see what they can do without supervision.

Philosophy: "Amp ceases to be a coding agent. It's no longer a point on a map. It's an arrow. Not a stop, but a ride."

Excerpts

The Agent Is No Longer the Limiting Factor

The current generation of coding agents is dead. The heart is still beating, yes, but the bullet has already left the chamber. This generation isn't the future.

With the newest models, the agent — the prompts and tools you wrap around a model — is no longer the limiting factor. These models can be powerful with nearly any tool you throw at them. A simple tool called bash is often enough. Whether you show LSP diagnostics here or there is dwarfed by what these models can do through sheer brute force. As long as it mostly gets out of the way, nearly any agent can get good results out of them. These new models barely need to be told how to act like coding agents anymore. They're now fully trained for that.

How you organize your codebase for agents, how your organization uses them — those are now the bottlenecks.

Unshackling Models from the Editor

First step: we're going to kill the Amp editor extensions for VS Code and Cursor. We're unshackling these models from the editor.

By keeping these new models in an editor sidebar, we restrict them. They're now much more than mere assistants. They no longer need the hand-holding and really want to kick off their training wheels. They want to write code and run even when you're not sitting in front of your editor. It's time to see what they can do without supervision.

Key Decisions

Killing editor extensions (March 5, 2026, 8pm PT):

  • VS Code and Cursor extensions self-destruct
  • Switch to Amp CLI
  • CLI is "flexible, light, easy to change, can be run anywhere and anytime"

Resisting local maximum:

  • Amp growing faster than ever
  • Could stay, keep things as is, "sell 2,000worthoftokensfor2,000 worth of tokens for 20 a month"
  • But that's a local maximum
  • "Each new model generation would move the frontier further and further into the distance"

Philosophy:

  • "Our only promise was that when the frontier moved, we would move too"
  • Attract users "willing to pack up and travel light with us"
  • "Everything is changing" (landing page, April 2025)
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