Tools

This course will use the following tools, which students should have installed on a personal machine (there will be no provision or lab-based computers). Ideally, you will install on laptops that can be brought to class for in-class exercises.

Coding Agents

Claude Code

You are required to purchase a Purchase Claude Pro subscription (or higher) and have Claude Code installed on a personal machine. The Claude Pro plan is currently $20/month. Don’t ask about substituting any cheaper agents/models, etc. – the answer is “no”. You are certainly welcome to try other things on your own.

OpenCode

For the exercise where we build a simple coding agent, you will use OpenCode Zen’s free tier – no key and no subscription required. Zen limits how many requests you can make per day. The allowance is generous, but start the exercise early rather than the night before: if you hit the cap, you wait until the next day.

The paid “Go” plan is not required for this course. It’s $10/month, and it’s a reasonable way to experiment with open-source/open-weights models on your own. But if you’re going to spend money on a second coding agent, ChatGPT below is the better option.

ChatGPT Plus

Optional, and not a substitute for anything the course assigns. It’s $20/month, and it includes Codex on the web, in the CLI, and in IDE extensions. Two reasons it may be worth it: you get a second harness to compare against Claude Code, and – more practically – a second usage pool, so hitting your Claude limit in the middle of an assignment doesn’t end your evening. The GPT-5.6 Luna tier is both capable and generously rationed.

Other Software

Our exercises and projects will require other software listed below.