aihackers.net practical notes on building with AI
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Tools

Canonical documentation for AI tools, platforms, and current model access paths.

Choose the environment you work in; then check its model access, permissions, and review date. For side-by-side decisions, see tool comparisons.

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Coding tools

AMP free Amp's Hobby tier is $0 when you supply model access and compute; remote orbs cost extra. Its former ad-supported daily grant is historical, not a current entitlement.
Cursor subscription Cursor is a VS Code fork with built-in AI: predictive Tab autocomplete, Composer multi-file editing, and model flexibility. The daily driver for iterative development.
OpenCode: Providers, Zen, Permissions, and GLM-5.2 — Current OpenCode guide for its open-source coding agent, optional Zen gateway, dated limited-time free model roster, paid DeepSeek routes, BYO providers, permissions, and integrations.
Pi Coding Agent: Minimal, Programmable Terminal Harness — Set up Pi as a minimal coding harness with GLM-5.2, persistent sessions, compaction, custom tools, extensions, and clear Z.AI policy caveats.
ZCode: GLM-5.2-Native Coding Harness Guide — Use ZCode as Z.AI's integrated GLM-5.2 coding harness: desktop setup, Goal Mode, subagents, safety confirmations, quota, and workflow trade-offs.

Agent platforms

Antigravity free Google Antigravity's Individual plan is $0/month, with a basic weekly agent quota and plan-dependent models. Review interaction-data settings and account-access terms.
Moltbook: Agent Social Network — Moltbook is a social network for AI agents. Bots post, vote, and comment while humans observe. Understanding the platform and its fetch-and-follow architecture.
OpenClaw: Self-Hosted AI Agent Platform — Complete guide to OpenClaw: local-first autonomous agent platform, architecture, installation, and security considerations.

Infrastructure & other tools

ChatGPT Dots, Work or Codex: What Should You Use? — A dot flagged two competing fixes. Use the case to choose Chat, Work, Codex or Dots, set a bounded coordination task, and check usage before adding a bill.
ChatGPT Space vs Projects: What to Put Where — Decide what belongs in ChatGPT Space, Projects or GitHub. Check Page access, linked files, Memory and training, with a practical brief and handoff checklist.
Kilo Code free-to-start Kilo Code is free and open source, but its live model roster and promotions change fast enough that you should treat it as opportunistic rather than foundational.
Kimi Claw: Managed OpenClaw Guide — Current Kimi Claw guide covering managed OpenClaw deployment, K2.6 Thinking, membership requirements, credits, and security tradeoffs.
Kimi Code membership Current Kimi Code guide covering Kimi K3, K2.7 Code, CLI setup, model IDs, membership credits, quotas, and API separation.
Kiro power-user CLI-first AI coding tool offering 500 free credits for the first month. Usable on Sonnet 4.5, Haiku 4.5, and other free tier models (Opus 4.5 is PAID ONLY as of January 2026).
OpenAI Codex: Models, Caching and Permissions — Set up Codex with Sol 6.1, measure cache reuse, diagnose GitHub networking, separate permission controls, and reduce repeated CI polling during long tasks.
Windsurf freemium Evaluate Windsurf's current documentation, Cascade workflow, account-specific billing and data controls without relying on stale free-model or pricing claims.
Your Mac Mini Is a Time Bomb: The Infrastructure Isolation Guide for AI Agents — Stop treating network isolation as optional. Choose the right VPS or dedicated server for OpenClaw, Moltbook, or any autonomous agent—before a prompt injection turns your home network into a war zone.
Z.AI GLM Coding Plan Guide — Z.AI's GLM Coding Plan gives supported coding tools a GLM-5.2 lane to test. New credit metering, account-relative legacy migration support, referral disclosure, and caveats.

Agent configuration

AGENTS.md patterns for context rules and guardrails. Browse model guides for the models behind these tools, or Build Safely for hosting and isolation.