4 ms·

Why do we need a new IDE for "AI/vibe coding"? The entire workflow for "AI coding agents" boils down to: 1. You write a prompt 2. The agent wraps it in a sys

Why do we need a new IDE for "AI/vibe coding"? The entire workflow for "AI coding agents" boils down to: 1. You write a prompt 2. The agent wraps it in a system prompt and sends it to the LLM 3. The LLM sends back a response 4. The agent performs specific actions based on that response (editing files, creating new ones, etc.) I don't see why anyone would ditch their current (non-AI) IDE for Cursor just to get this functionality (especially if you're getting hit with a monthly subscription fee on top of it.) P.S. I maintain a VS Code extension that does the 4 steps above as a baseline[1] [1] https://github.com/Kilo-Org/kilocode https://github.com/Kilo-Org/kilocode

Maxamillion96 1y ago
It’s vibes investing to match the vibes coding
sircastor 1y ago
I think there are 2 or 3 reasons: 1) Popularity. While there are plenty of die-on-a-hill users for ____ app, there are just as many people who will step away to try something and find they like it. Lots of devs use VScode, but its only been around for 10 years. Some people still swear by Notepad++ 2) Demand from on-high: When the non-tech boss shows up and says "Everyone use this now". I don't know how much this happens, but it does happen. Technical dictates from someone who shouldn't be making the decision, probably for a non-technical reason. 3) I hesitate to bring this one up, but here we go: People don't know any better. There is a new generation of developers coming up who are leaning hard into vibe coding. And just when I was young, there are plenty of seasoned developers crying out about it's validity. The new generation will pick their own tools - in part to distance themselves from the current generation.
- hakfoo 1y ago
  As someone who has basically been told by the boss "I'm the one pushing for AI, so we all have to make it a success" I can see 2 being a thing because it lets them point at the desks and say "see, they're all using the tools." We're a JetBrains shop, so they showed us Cursor and how to set up Claude in a terminal window, and I think most of our team has been using Claude because we don't want to give up the experience we're used to for the non-AI parts of the day.
Invictus0 1y ago
Why do people pay for water bottles when it comes out of the sink for free? Why do people use Dropbox when you could just mount a filesystem with curlftpfs? Why do people pay for Docusign or Postman or Duolingo?
johnisgood 1y ago
I'm "old school", I do these steps manually. (It actually helps more, IMO).
tmpz22 1y ago
I've been very happy with VSCode + Gemini 2.5 (a recentish integration). I will re-evaluate Cursor again but I can't imagine they're going to be able to beat Microsoft to the punch.
- hadesarchitect 1y ago
  There is literally no need for that. Roo or Kilo (extensions for VSCode) are open-source multi-agent plugins that don't require a whole new IDE.
  - seunosewa 1y ago
    The flat monthly fee charged by Cursor is attractive to many businesses and individuals.
The5thElephant 1y ago
Honestly main reason is the UI and speed. Cursor has consistently felt faster and easier to use with better inline auto-complete and faster large edits in chat than VSCode ever did. The way suggestions and chat is shown is just a bit easier to read and more elegantly presented. These things make a big difference.
smrtinsert 1y ago
After trying a lot of them, the need for a real ide is even stronger. Every single tool I've tried creates bugs, unrequired code, mistakes, hallucinations. Currently playing with Junie and Augment, and CoPilot holds up surprisingly well, not sure why people are so eager to ditch it.
BeetleB 1y ago
> P.S. I maintain a VS Code extension that does the 4 steps above as a baseline[1] Still needs an IDE! Why should I use kilo instead of aider? https://aider.chat/ https://aider.chat/
- iamsaitam 1y ago
  The answer clearly is, because you are already using VS Code. If you're not.. well then use aider.
- owendarko 1y ago
  1. Kilo Code works inside VS Code. Aider works inside the terminal. 2. Kilo is a feature-merge of Roo+Cline+our own features. This means at least 20 new features are added weekly.
  - BeetleB 1y ago
    Aider works inside any IDE. https://aider.chat/docs/usage/watch.html https://aider.chat/docs/usage/watch.html And there are plugins for many IDEs. The whole point of my comment is someone (ridiculously) implying you don't need to change IDEs with kilo when kilo is clearly tied to an IDE!
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]

Maxamillion96 1y ago

It’s vibes investing to match the vibes coding

sircastor 1y ago

I think there are 2 or 3 reasons: 1) Popularity. While there are plenty of die-on-a-hill users for ____ app, there are just as many people who will step away to try something and find they like it. Lots of devs use VScode, but its only been around for 10 years. Some people still swear by Notepad++ 2) Demand from on-high: When the non-tech boss shows up and says "Everyone use this now". I don't know how much this happens, but it does happen. Technical dictates from someone who shouldn't be making the decision, probably for a non-technical reason. 3) I hesitate to bring this one up, but here we go: People don't know any better. There is a new generation of developers coming up who are leaning hard into vibe coding. And just when I was young, there are plenty of seasoned developers crying out about it's validity. The new generation will pick their own tools - in part to distance themselves from the current generation.

hakfoo 1y ago
As someone who has basically been told by the boss "I'm the one pushing for AI, so we all have to make it a success" I can see 2 being a thing because it lets them point at the desks and say "see, they're all using the tools." We're a JetBrains shop, so they showed us Cursor and how to set up Claude in a terminal window, and I think most of our team has been using Claude because we don't want to give up the experience we're used to for the non-AI parts of the day.

Invictus0 1y ago

Why do people pay for water bottles when it comes out of the sink for free? Why do people use Dropbox when you could just mount a filesystem with curlftpfs? Why do people pay for Docusign or Postman or Duolingo?

johnisgood 1y ago

I'm "old school", I do these steps manually. (It actually helps more, IMO).

tmpz22 1y ago

I've been very happy with VSCode + Gemini 2.5 (a recentish integration). I will re-evaluate Cursor again but I can't imagine they're going to be able to beat Microsoft to the punch.

hadesarchitect 1y ago
There is literally no need for that. Roo or Kilo (extensions for VSCode) are open-source multi-agent plugins that don't require a whole new IDE.
- seunosewa 1y ago
  The flat monthly fee charged by Cursor is attractive to many businesses and individuals.

The5thElephant 1y ago

Honestly main reason is the UI and speed. Cursor has consistently felt faster and easier to use with better inline auto-complete and faster large edits in chat than VSCode ever did. The way suggestions and chat is shown is just a bit easier to read and more elegantly presented. These things make a big difference.

smrtinsert 1y ago

After trying a lot of them, the need for a real ide is even stronger. Every single tool I've tried creates bugs, unrequired code, mistakes, hallucinations. Currently playing with Junie and Augment, and CoPilot holds up surprisingly well, not sure why people are so eager to ditch it.

BeetleB 1y ago

> P.S. I maintain a VS Code extension that does the 4 steps above as a baseline[1] Still needs an IDE! Why should I use kilo instead of aider? https://aider.chat/ https://aider.chat/

iamsaitam 1y ago
The answer clearly is, because you are already using VS Code. If you're not.. well then use aider.
owendarko 1y ago
1. Kilo Code works inside VS Code. Aider works inside the terminal. 2. Kilo is a feature-merge of Roo+Cline+our own features. This means at least 20 new features are added weekly.
- BeetleB 1y ago
  Aider works inside any IDE. https://aider.chat/docs/usage/watch.html https://aider.chat/docs/usage/watch.html And there are plugins for many IDEs. The whole point of my comment is someone (ridiculously) implying you don't need to change IDEs with kilo when kilo is clearly tied to an IDE!

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]