Ask HN: What is your dev set up like?
Curious what HackerNews users are using right now. Mapping my IDE usage since 2022
Goland (2022-2024)-> Cursor(November 2024 to February 2026) -> Claude Code (& VSCode or Cursor for manual edits)
The Claude Code setup is interesting, I use the terminal or GitHub for diffs. I do open an editor to do manual edits, especially when I am doing something new( that the LLM hasn't been trained on) or debugging something.
Potential improvements
Stripe Projects ( creating API keys from CLI) as something that I have wanted in the past as with LLMs sometimes with a project the slowest part seems to be deployment / bringing all the keys. I also don't enjoy the fact that I can't push a job to the web when I am leaving work. Worktrees aren't fun as I can't run the services on different ports that easily for testing, further managing different TMUXs is painful. I am curious what tools people here are using, also what do people do while the LLM generates. 2024: I used to split time between IntelliJ IDEA (10% - for Java) and VSCode (90% - for everything else). 2025: Stopped writing so much Java, so used VSCode exclusively for Python, TS etc, with Claude Code or Cline. 2026: Time is split between Codex App (40%), Claude App (30%) and VSCode with Claude Code (30%). Some other thoughts: * Overall I feel like opening an IDE in the traditional sense is coming to an end. * Tech-stack wise I am much more open to trying out new things than before since LLMs will help with the setup and debugging. * For small teams like ours, code reviews are the bottleneck, and we constantly have to decide what code we review vs what we don't. * Building seems easy these days, but (1) so much competition no in every field, (2) much more product polish is expected than before, and (3) most products compete with Claude if they realize this or not. I've been coding 100% in Emacs for the past 20+ years, and I don't imagine I'll be changing any time soon. For "AI"? I sometimes paste some code into chatgpt.com and ask for assistance, but I don't have an specific integration setup. I have LSP setup for python, golang, and some smart configurations for YAML, JSON, etc. I have all my work logs in org-mode. Pretty much the same, but with my Emacs usage being mich recent. Before I was using Vim. I still use IDE for Java, Android, and iOS projects. Stuck with GoLand. I hate the company, use maybe 5% of the features, but there is nothing better out there. FileZilla for FTP. HeidiSQL and MariaDB for SQL. 1Remote for multi-session SSH. KeePass for passwords, keys, configuration files or any sensitive data. Occasionally I use Notepad++, VS Codium or Zed when I need to. I was running JetBrains suite since ~2010, but late 2025 I have switched to Helix inside Zellij + Jujutsu instead of git and not really looking back after. Took some getting used to, sometimes I miss the GUI, debugger and some of the more advanced tools, but I generally feel a lot more productive (especially in Nix/Go) with added responsiveness, can easily work on a much bulkier machine over SSH and have a real chance to learn the more universal built-in CLI/TUI tooling. Lotus Domino Designer, lol. I am riding this tech into the ground and have been working since 2008, off and on, to shut down anyone who is using it and migrate them to modern platforms. And still getting contracts to do so! I have done your standard modern SaaS gigs as well, but these days I'm finding shutdown efforts of legacy tech is enjoyable work, while playing the startup/SaaS game is not. - No IDEs (unfortunately they're all buggy performance hogs with input lag) - Helix editor (no LSP, no plugins) - Workmux for Git worktree and tmux automation - Nushell and iTerm - Claude Code for code generation I use Claude Code for getting things done, Zed for general IDE viewing of long form documents, and I’m also building my own in-terminal IDE-lite called toast (https://github.com/paradise-runner/toast still very early development!!) that id like to be able to replace zed with. I tried Claude code with zed and zed will eat memory like crazy (128GB RAM) after long sessions. I gave up on zed after that happening for a month I write code using Sublime Text on a Linux computer, with everything to compile C/C++ programs installed, and obviously the powerful Terminal. Had to move to Linux because I wanted to make some programs related to network-programming (XDP, libnetfilter_queue), and Linux provides all the tools I need. I've only used VS Code a few times. The only thing I lack is a home network setup, to fully test those programs. VSCode + Claude Code. The combination works well for solo development — Claude handles the implementation, I handle the architecture and judgment calls. A few things I've learned: Tests were important before AI and are even more important now. AI can introduce unintended outcomes in subtle ways, so having a strong test suite isn't optional — it's your safety net against changes you didn't fully review. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. AI makes it trivially easy to refactor, swap frameworks, rebuild entire modules. But it doesn't mean you should rework everything daily to chase the newest JS framework. Restraint matters more now, not less. The biggest limitation: AI follows patterns from the most common repos. For standard work that's fine — often it's exactly what you need. But when you hit what I'd call "unsolved problems" — things that don't have an industry-accepted solution yet — AI falls apart. It'll confidently generate something that looks right but isn't. That's where knowing how to plan, prompt with the right context, and recognise when the output is wrong becomes the actual skill. Until October 2026 I used mainly PyCharm. Since then I do all my dev work with Claude Code.
And currently pulling in more and more workflows into Codehydra including PRs and Issue management. When I'm writing my own code, it's Lazarus, based on Free Pascal. Or, the occasional dip into python with IDLE. When I'm using an LLM to generate technical debt, it's Visual Studio Code and GitHub's AI tool, that I can't remember the name of. I am still using VSCode. I do have the Claude Code extension, but I don't really use Claude to write code. I mainly use it for code reviews. Since I am a solo developer it is nice to be able to get a second opinion. Whether you use WisprFlow, the OS built in STT engine, or some other alternative, if you're not talking to your computer in 2026 when you can't type 300 wpm (I can't), you're going slow. i use tmux with one open session per project I'm working on. inside the session using nvim for edits, terminal panes for running tests / commands etc, and increasingly pi as a coding agent instead of claude code. i sometimes toy around with orchestration projects like capy.ai or conductor but haven't really been impressed. probably worth noting that usually all code i push will have been written by me. even if LLMs can output the same i find it's usually faster to implement it myself compared to convincing myself that the LLM output is correct. I miss spending time on vscode, these days I'm all in on terminal and claude, I've been contemplating slowing down again and going back to writing code not just specs and tests My own retro 8-bit inspired VT100 terminal emulator called 8btty, mostly running Claude Code, either native build or integrated into the Unreal Engine 5 interface. I am increasingly switching to Lanes.sh after having been running Claude Code with Github Desktop ytd. Deleted my Pycharm and Vscode a while back. As of April 2026: IDE (VSCode + extensions) feels like home, Codex/Claude apps feels like i'm visiting my chaotic relatives. VScode + Claude Opus 4.6 on Ubuntu 24. This is the best solution right now IMO, but Zed/Antigravity are also good alternatives. in the last ~2 years: VSCode/GH copilot -> windsurf -> Zed/Claude code -> Zed/codex -> Zed/opencode -> Antigravity/opencode I'm only using antigravity cause they have good limits for now .. (but it we be matter of time before it will go away and then go back to Zed) - My IDE is Always VSCode for Manual Edits
- VSCode with ChatGPT Coding Buddy since claude code, i use no editor. i XP with claude code and tell him exactly what to do in clear manner and with effective challenges Most of the time I use Antigravity and sometimes Cursor Tmux … lots of tmux with lots of Claude code sessions VSCode + Codex app on macOS and Linux. vim