Components of A Coding Agent

Ahead of AI · 3 months ago

A coding agent is an LLM wrapped in a software harness that uses tools, memory, and control loops to solve coding tasks, distinguishing it from a raw model or reasoning model. The harness manages six main components: live repository context, prompt caching for efficiency, structured tool access with validation, context reduction, session memory and resumption, and delegation to sub-agents. The surrounding system—including repo navigation, file management, test execution, and context preservation—often matters as much as the underlying model itself for practical coding capability.