{"slug": "is-agentic-coding-worthwhile", "title": "Is Agentic Coding Worthwhile", "summary": "A developer expressed doubts about agentic AI coding tools such as OpenCode and Pi, saying they have had \"mixed results at best\" and get \"better results\" from chatbot-style development. The developer argued that AI's practical value in software development lies in generating functions that can be pasted into programs, a lightweight task runnable locally for free using the gemma-4-26B_q4_0-it.gguf model in llama-cpp, rather than in agents that edit and compile files. The developer questioned whether agentic coding is truly the future, noting they have never met a developer who cannot edit files or compile programs.", "body_md": "I have started to feel more **doubts** about the benefits of using **agentic AI** for **coding** (like in coding harnesses like OpenCode, Pi). It seems like the next step for AI—after all, isn't more AI always better? But I have had mixed results at best.\n\nIt seems like everyone has decided that **agentic coding** is the **future**, but is this necessarily true? I agree that AI has benefits in software development. But it can be useful just in **chat bot form**, where the developer generates a required string manipulation function and then pastes it into their program.\n\nHaving an agent **edit** and **compile files** seems impressive, but are these things humans really need help on? I have never met a developer who cannot edit files or compile programs.\n\nUsing chat bots to **generate functions**, meanwhile, has some utility—it saves time. And because it is a fairly lightweight task, it can be run locally (I use `gemma-4-26B_q4_0-it.gguf` in `llama-cpp`) for free. It might be that I just do not have en expensive enough subscription, but I seem to get **better results** from chat bot-style development.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/is-agentic-coding-worthwhile", "canonical_source": "https://www.dotnetperls.com/2026_9_13_is-agentic-coding-worthwhile", "published_at": "2026-09-13 07:00:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-13 16:15:15.758887+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-agents", "ai-tools", "developer-tools", "large-language-models", "ai-products"], "entities": ["OpenCode", "Pi", "gemma-4-26B_q4_0-it.gguf", "llama-cpp"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/is-agentic-coding-worthwhile", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/is-agentic-coding-worthwhile.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/is-agentic-coding-worthwhile.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/is-agentic-coding-worthwhile.jsonld"}}