[easeout]

Shell commands and files on disk are the classic narrow waist, and this type of tool, exemplified by Claude Code, locates a coding agent down in that ecosystem.

Why shouldn't you be able to use the abilities of this tool as a batch command, connected with all your other basic tools, in addition to interactive sessions?

Cursor's chat being locked in an IDE sidebar has felt like driving with a trailer attached. For some tasks the editor is secondary or unnecessary, and as a papered-over VS Code fork, Cursor has a lot of warts that you just had to accept. Now you can just use your favorite editor.

Companies make apps but want to be platforms, so they try to put everything in one app and help you forget about everything else. VS Code and Figma, for example, make their own extension ecosystems rather than connecting outward, because it makes them platforms-as-apps and harder to leave. But a desktop task workflow spans many apps and windows. You compose it yourself to your needs. We are computer users more than app users.

To me as a computer user, a tool that's compact and has compatible outward extension points feels good.