alt Hacker NewsI still don't get why would you want to use a terminal app to code when you can do all of this through IDE extension which does the same except it is better integrated.
You can open a grid of windows inside vscode too and it comes back up exactly as it was on reload.
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I've found VSCode _ok_ to work with across across different workspaces/projects. The window memory is hit and miss. There's a secondary side bar I've been trying to NOT have open on startup but always seem to stick around. I'd prefer to programmatically manage the windows so I can tinker with an automated setup but the VSCode API/Plugins for managing this are terrible and tend to fail silently.
CLI within VSCode is workable but most of my VSCode envs are within a docker container. This is a pattern that I'm moving more and more away from as agents within a container kind of suck.
> I still don't get why would you want to use a terminal app to code when you can do all of this through IDE extension which does the same except it is better integrated.
I agree. I tried Gemini CLI for a while, and didn't like how separate I felt from the underlying files: rather than doing minor cleanup myself, the activation energy of switching to a separate editor and opening the same files was too high, so I'd prompt the LLM to it instead. Which was often an exercise in frustration, as it would take many rounds of explanation for such tiny payoffs; maybe even fiddling with system prompts and markdown files, to try and avoid wasting so much time in the future...
I've been using Pi for a few weeks now, and have managed to integrate it quite deeply into Emacs. I run it entirely via RPC mode (JSON over stdio), so I don't really know (or care) about its terminal UI :-)
> I still don't get why would you want to use a terminal app to code when you can do all of this through IDE extension which does the same except it is better integrated.
Because then you need to make an extension for every IDE. Isn't it better to make a CLI tool with a server, and let people make IDE extensions to communicate with it?
Claude Code has an update every few days. Imagine now propagating those changes to 20+ IDEs.
When I use a CLI agent to code, I don't need the IDE for anything.
Think of it more like directing a coworker or subcontractor via text chat. You tell them what you want and get a result, then you test it if it's what you want and give more instructions if needed.
I literally just fixed a maintenance program on my own server while working my $dayjob. ssh to server, start up claude and tell it what's wrong, tab away. Then I came back some time later, read what it had done, tested the script and immediately got a few improvement ideas. Gave them to Claude, tabbed out, etc.
Took me maybe 15 minutes of active work while chatting on Slack and managing my other tasks. I never needed to look at the code at any point. If it works and tests pass, why do I care what it looks like?