What is Claude Code? An agentic developer tool

Claude Code is already gaining traction among developers for its integrated, agentic coding support in the terminal—handling everything from debugging to automated commits with natural language commands.

What can Claude Code do?

Claude Code is designed to streamline development by enabling AI-powered interactions in the terminal.

It can:

• Edit files and fix bugs across a codebase
• Explain architecture and logic in natural language
• Handle routine tasks like testing and linting
• Interact with Git for searching, merging, committing, and reviewing PRs

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Instead of manually running multiple commands, developers can describe what they want in plain English, and Claude Code will execute the necessary actions—reducing context-switching and cognitive overhead.

The 3.7 Sonnet Model: smarter, more adaptive AI

‍Claude Code is powered by Claude 3.7 Sonnet, a model optimized for fast responses and deep reasoning. Unlike previous iterations, which separated lightweight and complex tasks, 3.7 Sonnet adapts dynamically based on the prompt and available “thinking budget.”

‍Key features of 3.7 Sonnet:

‍Claude 3.7 Sonnet features an extended thinking mode, which allows it to self-reflect before answering. This significantly improves its accuracy in complex domains and ensures more reliable outputs. Unlike models designed primarily to excel in competition benchmarks, Claude 3.7 is tuned for real-world business applications.

It prioritizes practical development tasks such as code planning, debugging, and refactoring, making it a valuable asset for engineers working in production environments. Companies like Cursor, Cognition, Vercel, Replit, and Canva have rigorously tested its capabilities.

All have reported significant improvements in tool execution, production-ready code generation, and debugging efficiency. This real-world validation underscores its effectiveness in seamlessly integrating into professional workflows.

‍Cost and data collection considerations

‍Claude Code is not free—it requires a Claude Pro subscription and incurs additional per-use charges. Developers have noted that even failed runs can result in charges (e.g., one colleague reported a $5.30 charge for an incomplete session in recent testing).

‍Data collection policy:

• Anthropic logs user feedback (e.g., acceptance/rejection signals) for 30 days to refine the model.

• These logs are not used to retrain Claude.

• Bug reports can be submitted via the /bug command or through GitHub issues.

How Claude Code compares to other AI-powered coding tools

Claude Code enters a growing space of AI-assisted terminal tools. Here’s how it stacks up against similar solutions:

While Aider Chat supports multiple models (e.g., OpenAI GPT, Mistral), Claude Code benefits from deeper integration with 3.7 Sonnet’s reasoning capabilities. Meanwhile, Warp AI primarily focuses on autocomplete and command suggestions, rather than full-code execution.

‍Installation and usage

Install via NPM:

npm install -g @anthropic/claude-code

This provides the Claude CLI tool, allowing you to interact with the AI directly in the terminal.

Basic usage:

# Ask questions about your codebase
claude
> how does our authentication system work?

# Create a commit with one command
claude commit

# Fix issues across multiple files
claude "fix the type errors in the auth module"

For more advanced usage, refer to Anthropic’s documentation or the claude —help command.

‍Early adoption and future enhancements

‍Despite being a research preview, Claude Code is already proving useful for:

• Test-driven development
• Complex debugging
• Large-scale refactoring

In internal testing, Claude Code completed tasks in a single pass that typically take 45+ minutes manually.

Planned improvements include more reliable tool calls, support for background processes and better in-terminal rendering, and expanded model awareness (so that Claude can better understand its own capabilities).

Final Thoughts

Claude Code represents a promising shift toward integrated, agentic developer tools.

While early adopters are still testing its limits, its ability to automate tedious coding tasks, fix bugs, and integrate with Git makes it a compelling tool for developers looking to boost productivity.

However, with ongoing costs, a research-preview status, and room for improvement, developers should weigh whether its capabilities justify its price. If Anthropic continues refining Claude Code, it could set a new standard for AI-powered coding assistants.