{"slug": "exploring-vs-code-s-ai-features-alongside-top-models-like-claude-code-and-codex", "title": "Exploring VS Code's AI features alongside top models like Claude Code and Codex", "summary": "VS Code's new Agents view provides a dedicated, agent-first AI workspace that supports multiple AI agents running in parallel, enabling complex project-wide tasks, debugging, and automation. Unlike single-agent tools like Copilot, Codex, and Claude Code, Agents view re-centers the developer workflow around AI as a 'doer' rather than an autocomplete sidekick, offering full workspace integration and real task execution.", "body_md": "VS Code’s new Agents view isn’t just another sidebar, and it’s not Copilot in a new costume. It’s a dedicated, agent-first AI workspace built right into your editor—one that upends old assumptions about what “AI for developers” should look like. Instead of yet another autocomplete or chat overlay, you get a full-blown command deck for giving the AI complex, project-wide tasks, tracking progress, and even spinning up multiple agents in parallel—all without leaving VS Code.\n\nThat alone sets Agents view apart from Copilot, Codex, and even next-gen experiments like Google Antigravity. It doesn’t just add AI help; it re-centers your workflow around it, allowing for real project manipulation, debugging, and automation on a new level. Here’s what’s genuinely different, how to use it today, what to watch for, and why it forces a re-think in day-to-day coding.\n\nThe Agents view is a dedicated workspace inside VS Code designed for managing multiple AI coding agents. It’s not just another small chat panel or Copilot popup. Clicking the Agents icon in the top-right corner opens a full, agent-first workspace—where conversations, requests, and tasks take center stage, not the code buffer.\n\nAccording to the review, the Agents view lets you:\n\nIt’s built to make AI the “doer,” not just an autocomplete sidekick. Compared to Copilot—which mostly fills in lines or chats about code fragments—Agents view lets an agent actually *implement* features, debug, and make structural changes with fewer manual steps.\n\nI didn’t see usage stats in the review, but XDA’s assessment is clear: this is more capable than the piecemeal, context-limited Copilot sidebar. It is a separate, focused mode, not a UI overlay. For any developer who’s spent half their time piping output back and forth between “AI Chat” and the actual code, it’s a significant in terms of workflow integration.\n\nCodex and Claude Code are single-agent tools. You give them a prompt or a code snippet, they reply with help, and maybe generate new code, but they operate mostly in linear Q&A or completion cycles, and rarely take high-level, multi-step control.\n\nVS Code’s Agents view breaks from this by supporting **multiple agents in parallel**—running different prompts or tasks together, each in its own conversational thread. The workspace is genuinely designed for agent-for-developer handoff, not just paste-buffer augmentation.\n\nThe reviewer notes that “I expected it to feel like another Copilot panel bolted onto VS Code. Instead, it changed the way I interacted with the editor.” That’s a strong indication that real workflow differences exist—this isn’t just branding or another extension.\n\nGoogle Antigravity, referenced as a mental shift, brings a new mental model rather than a pure productivity tool. Antigravity is described as “uncomfortable brilliance,” less focused on practical recapitalization in existing workflows, more a reset in how you think about code and software development. It’s not trying to extend the familiar IDE—it’s uprooting the entire concept.\n\n| Tool | Works inside VS Code? | Multi-agent? | Runs real tasks? | Workspace integration |\n|---|---|---|---|---|\n| Copilot sidebar | Yes | No | Limited | Inline chat/autocomplete |\n| Codex | No | No | Limited | API/IDE plugins |\n| Claude Code | No | No | Limited | Web interface/clients |\n| Google Antigravity | No | Experimental | Conceptual | Philosophy first |\nAgents view |\nYes | Yes | Full | Agent-first workspace |\n\nThe practical upshot: Agents view is the *only* tool among these with real, multi-agent, project-wide manipulation ** inside** VS Code. It’s focused on level-jumping productivity, not just augmenting an editor.\n\nUser impressions from the review are clear: it’s not for everyone, but for those who want the AI to do more than autocomplete, it’s “far more useful once I start using it as a proper development workspace.”\n\n[[COMPARE: single-agent tools vs Agents view multi-agent workspace]]\n\nThis isn’t vaporware, and it isn’t locked behind an invite. The Agents view is available in recent releases of VS Code—open your editor, look for the *Agents* icon in the top-right corner of the UI.\n\n**Actual usage—step by step:**\n\n**Open Agents view**\n\n**Select your workspace**\n\n**Start an agent**\n\n```\n Build a React login page with validation and tests.\n```\n\nOr:\n\n```\n Refactor all legacy API calls in `src/` to use the new hook.\n```\n\n**Let the agent work**\n\n**Interact and correct**\n\n**Run multiple agents**\n\n**Practical tasks I ran in the reviewer’s workflow:**\n\n**Tips for managing prompts and agents:**\n\n``` js\n// Example: assigning a complex multi-step task\nconst task = `\n  1. Migrate all fetch calls in /api to use async/await\n  2. Update error handling to use custom Error class\n  3. Generate tests for new error cases\n`;\n// Send as a single prompt — the agent works in order, updating files as it goes\n```\n\nThis workflow turns a lot of “copy error → paste to AI → copy fix back” into a single, trackable conversation that spans the whole repo.\n\nAgents view is a leap, but it’s not frictionless. The main adjustment is a mental one: handing over more control than the usual autocomplete or chat feels risky at first.\n\n**Known limitations (per the review):**\n\nFuture-facing, the review hints at continued improvements—better error reporting, richer integration with editing features, and more granular agent control.\n\nThe classic AI coding tool (Copilot, Codex, Claude Code) augments your cursor—it’s like a magic autocomplete or a smarter chat. You remain in total control, line by line; the AI follows your lead.\n\nAgents view reverses that. You delegate responsibility: describe what you want, and the AI works in a new workspace, editing and running code, inspecting the project, and asking for clarifications as needed. You don’t poke at files; you manage the process. This requires a new trust model and a different planning approach.\n\nParth Shah’s take from the review: “it changed the way I interacted with the editor.” It’s a higher-level, more collaborative interface—one where you assign ownership to agents that understand context and progress independently.\n\nCompare to Google Antigravity, which is called an “uncomfortable brilliance”—it’s not about productivity or a “better Copilot,” but a mental shift in how code is conceived and manipulated. Agents view is less radical, but it’s the biggest workflow reset in mainstream IDEs since Copilot.\n\n**Workflow implications:**\n\n[[CONCEPT: an agent-per-task model, not a cursor-per-keystroke]]\n\nWith Agents view, the cost of splitting work across multiple threads collapses. An agent becomes a teammate that actually manipulates your project—inspecting tests, running builds, rewriting files, and giving you a single, ownable progress view.\n\nFor teams: you can imagine future workflows where agents handle the dull, repetitive tasks (bug triage, updating dependencies, mass refactors) while humans focus on architecture and novel code. It fits today as a solo developer’s “second brain,” but the paradigm is team-scalable—agent swarms are possible.\n\nVS Code’s Agents view redefines what AI integration can be—the days of shoehorned autocomplete and chatbots are behind us. For developers ready to try this today, the agent-first workspace offers parallelized, disruptive power that’s both practical and (with some patience) transformative. The learning curve is real, but the upside—true project-wide automation and a shift in how we collaborate with code—makes it a must-try. If you’re still using Copilot alone, this is the next step. AI isn’t just fitting in beside your code anymore; it’s taking on entire threads of your development workflow. Get comfortable letting go—a little. The future of coding is happening in your editor, right now.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/exploring-vs-code-s-ai-features-alongside-top-models-like-claude-code-and-codex", "canonical_source": "https://dev.to/davekurian/exploring-vs-codes-ai-features-alongside-top-models-like-claude-code-and-codex-l65", "published_at": "2026-06-18 08:02:44+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-18 08:21:18.399866+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["developer-tools", "artificial-intelligence", "ai-agents", "ai-products", "large-language-models"], "entities": ["VS Code", "Copilot", "Codex", "Claude Code", "Google Antigravity", "XDA"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/exploring-vs-code-s-ai-features-alongside-top-models-like-claude-code-and-codex", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/exploring-vs-code-s-ai-features-alongside-top-models-like-claude-code-and-codex.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/exploring-vs-code-s-ai-features-alongside-top-models-like-claude-code-and-codex.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/exploring-vs-code-s-ai-features-alongside-top-models-like-claude-code-and-codex.jsonld"}}