It feels good to get back to some of the fun stuff.

The comments here can double as a place for GPT-5.4 reactions, in addition to my Twitter thread. I hope to get that review out soon.

Almost all of this will be a summary of agentic coding developments, after a note.

Table of Contents

The Virtue of Silence (Unrelated Update).
Agentic Coding Offers Mundane Utility.
Agentic Coding Doesn’t Offer Mundane Utility.
Huh, Upgrades.
Our Price Cheap.
Quickly, There's No Time.
A Particular Set Of Skills.
Next Level Coding.
Dual Wielding.
They Took Our Jobs.
You Need To Relax Sometimes.
Levels of Friction.
Danger, Will Robinson.
Snagged By The Claw.
The Meta Clause.
If They Wanted To.
The Famous Mister Claw.
Claw Your Way To The Top.
Claw Your Way Out.
A Chinese Claw.
Hackathon.
Introducing Agent Teams.
Cowork Is A Gateway Drug.
Dangerously Evade Permissions.
Skilling Up.
Modern Working.
Measuring Autonomy.
I Don’t Even See The Code.
Scratchpads Are Magic.
It's Coming.
[...]

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Outline:

(00:29) The Virtue of Silence (Unrelated Update)

(02:32) Agentic Coding Offers Mundane Utility

(08:27) Agentic Coding Doesnt Offer Mundane Utility

(09:17) Huh, Upgrades

(11:31) Our Price Cheap

(13:36) Quickly, Theres No Time

(21:08) A Particular Set Of Skills

(21:48) Next Level Coding

(22:54) Dual Wielding

(23:49) They Took Our Jobs

(24:28) You Need To Relax Sometimes

(27:05) Levels of Friction

(28:30) Danger, Will Robinson

(30:22) Snagged By The Claw

(34:20) The Meta Clause

(36:50) If They Wanted To

(37:55) The Famous Mister Claw

(39:14) Claw Your Way To The Top

(40:58) Claw Your Way Out

(44:05) A Chinese Claw

(46:46) Hackathon

(47:15) Introducing Agent Teams

(52:40) Cowork Is A Gateway Drug

(53:34) Dangerously Evade Permissions

(54:32) Skilling Up

(55:53) Modern Working

(56:22) Measuring Autonomy

(58:25) I Dont Even See The Code

(01:01:53) Scratchpads Are Magic

(01:04:11) Its Coming

(01:08:22) The Grep Tax

(01:09:54) Beware Claude Mania

(01:10:36) The Lighter Side

(01:12:05) In Other Agent News

(01:12:13) The Lighter Side

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First published:
March 9th, 2026

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/rNes65r9TKegdLowb/claude-code-claude-cowork-and-codex-5

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Images from the article:

School Finder map interface showing primary schools near postcode N1 1TS in London.

Dropdown menu showing four AI interaction modes: Ask, Code, Plan, and Act.

Slack conversation between Chirag Mendpara, Doug OLaughlin, and Dylan Patel discussing pricing and AI spending.

Dialog box showing iCloud restoration progress of 26,477 files, currently at 13,100.

Chat screenshots showing automated email management commands being executed and then stopped.

Terminal window showing task list and code editor with lint error messages.

Comic about Docker container security bypassing .env file access controls through docker-compose.

News article screenshot. The headline reads:

Meme with painted bird and text about calculated risk and being bad at math.

WhatsApp conversation about sending invoices, revenue collected, conversion rates, and terminology correction.

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

“Claude Code, Claude Cowork and Codex #5” by Zvi

LessWrong (30+ Karma)