The Evolution of Code Intelligence: From Models to Agents

This is the current frontier. We are moving from "tools that help you write code" to "agents that write code for you."

Core Components of a Coding Agent#

1.  **Planning**: The agent reads an issue description and formulates a multi-step plan.
2.  **Tooling**:
- File I/O: Reading/writing files.
- Terminal: Running build commands, tests, and linters.
- LSP: Interacting with Language Server Protocols for precise navigation.
3.  **Feedback Loop: The agent writes code, runs the tests, sees the failure, analyzes the error, and iterates. This Self-Correction** loop is what distinguishes an agent from a model.

Benchmarks#

• SWE-bench: A benchmark based on real GitHub issues. It measures an agent's ability to resolve issues in popular Python repositories (Django, scikit-learn, etc.).
• Performance: Top agents are now solving >20-30% of these hard issues, a number that is rising monthly.