AI has completely transformed how I write code. What used to take hours of Stack Overflow diving and documentation hunting now happens in minutes with the right AI tools. After experimenting with dozens of platforms, these are the seven tools that actually made it into my daily workflow.

I switch between Factory Droids and OpenCode as my daily harnesses depending on the task at hand. When I need to tackle a lot of unrelated changes in parallel, I switch to Conductor. It gives me isolated environments with built-in git utilities that make shipping features incredibly fast.

OpenCode

The open source AI coding agent with 41K+ GitHub stars. It offers free models included or connects to any model from any provider such as Claude, GPT, and Gemini. It is available as a terminal interface, desktop app, and IDE extension. It includes LSP support, multi-session parallel agents, shareable session links, and Claude Pro integration. It is privacy-first and stores no code or context data.

Factory

Agent-native software development platform with Droids that work everywhere you do: IDE, web browser, CLI, Slack or Teams, and project managers. It can take on complete tasks like refactors, incident response, and migrations without forcing a change in tools or workflow. It is enterprise-grade, secure, and vendor agnostic.

Conductor

Run a team of coding agents on your Mac. Create parallel Codex and Claude Code agents in isolated workspaces using git worktrees. It lets you see at a glance what each agent is working on, then review and merge their changes. It has a polished native macOS UI and is used by engineers at Stripe, Life360, Notion, and more.

Oh My OpenCode

The #1 OpenCode plugin. It adds async subagents similar to Claude Code, curated agents with proper model choices, LSP and AST tools, curated MCPs, and a Claude Code compatibility layer.

VibeProxy

Native macOS menu bar app to use your Claude Code, ChatGPT, Gemini, Qwen, and Antigravity subscriptions with AI coding tools like Factory Droids, without separate API keys. It supports one-click OAuth authentication, multi-account failover when rate-limited, and real-time status monitoring.

CodexBar

Tiny macOS menu bar app that keeps your OpenAI Codex and Claude Code usage limits visible across session and weekly windows, and shows when each window resets. No login required.

Portal

My own project for those times when I am away from my computer but still want to code. Portal gives me access to OpenCode from my phone, so I can kick off tasks, review changes, or keep projects moving even when I am not at my desk.

These tools work together like a well-orchestrated system. OpenCode handles the heavy lifting with its agents, Factory manages complex multi-step tasks, Conductor keeps parallel work organized, Oh My OpenCode extends capabilities when I hit edge cases, VibeProxy keeps subscription access smooth, and CodexBar keeps me informed about usage. The result is that I ship code faster and better than ever before.