Coding with Agents | Christian Esguerra

After finally experiencing what it's like to code with agents using OpenCode (not Claude Code cause I don't have the money for that), it honestly feels a bit surreal and different to how it used to be and how I did it before.

Terminal vs browser

Coding via the browser vs in the terminal feels entirely different and the output feels different too. Using the browser sometimes felt like a crutch and I can't seem to do anything without it. Whereas using OpenCode, I felt like I was still the "engineer" of the project in the sense. I am working on a small personal project right now using Go, granted I did do a small course on Go so I can get familiar with the language, but using OpenCode really made me feel like I was still in charge of my idea and project.

Skills

Another thing was using skills. I use Matt Pocock's skills as a base, but I have implemented some such as the caveman skills and let me tell ya the /caveman-commit skill is so good because it's exactly how I like to do commits. But going back, I think using skills as well really changed how I try to work and tinker on projects (like my Go one). Using AI on the browser (Claude, ChatGPT, even Gemini to an extent) just doesn't really hit the same, especially now with how I'm adapting my workflow with OpenCode.

Fundamentals still matter

I think the most important thing though is that I am still learning the fundamentals and what not, and using what I know as my advantage using OpenCode. Obviously for example, just knowing where each file is and what each file does. I kid you not I've met fellow students who did not know what a package.json is or what file their main webpage is on or how to even run npm run dev. I find that it's even those simple things that students like me really need to understand especially with AI nowadays, is that actually knowing stuff actually helps the AI help you (who would've thought...).

Just a tool

AI really is just a tool. OpenCode has been so good for me not because OpenCode itself was good, but it was how I used it, knowing what to use with it, and maximizing it from there. Rather than if I just installed it and told it to "make me a good website" and expected it to be one of the greatest user experiences ever.