Is Agentic Coding Worthwhile

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.

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. It 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. Having 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. Using 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.