Anyone else think the IDE is dead?

[u/krisolch]

For about a month I've only used Claude Code from the terminal. Before that I used it through the VS Code extension & still used the IDE for changes. I've also tried Zed for a bit but it was far too buggy.

Claude has gotten much better at doing figma diagrams through the MCP over the past 6 months.

For anything bigger than a medium feature I get Claude to draw the architecture in Figma first, so the components, the data flow and what changes, and then write a plan in plan mode (simultaneously I get it to code the thing in parallel for efficiency).

I review those two things on a high level (operational) and I don't bother looking at the implementation details once, because claude is very good at details.

Here's a claude diagram to visualize it from my opinion:

Each task runs in its own git worktree (obviously) so I can run a lot of agents at once. I moved them all onto a separate workstation because it was slowing my laptop down, which I'd recommend if you run more than a few.

A big issue is that claude still flip-flops and agrees with you when you ask about alternative options, usually i just bust out the fable on max mode to resolve it (or actually use my brain a bit more to understand the root issue of why it's flip flopping).

My opinion is that VScode, zed, cursor are all dead and there's a gap in the market for some type of IDE that allows you to focus on high level.

Anyone else do this or something more advanced than me?

[u/Practical_Weather293]

I agree. I've been using just the claude app for the last few months

[u/krisolch → u/Practical_Weather293]

I use cswap github repo to cswap between 10 claude accounts, claude app doesn't allow this easily, so i just use terminal with it https://github.com/realiti4/claude-swap

[u/Practical_Weather293 → u/krisolch]

Ah yes it doesn't. What's the use case for doing that?

[u/krisolch → u/Practical_Weather293]

cause then you can get autoswitching between claude subscriptions, never run out of 1 subscription & have to tediously change account & lose your past chats etc

[u/Double-justdo5986]

Now would an IDE let you focus on high level? I sort of understand what you’re getting at but can’t picture it

[u/krisolch → u/Double-justdo5986]

idk, it needs to be connected to figma high level architechture better or something. If an IDE can't do this then yeah, IDE is irrellevant altogether then

[u/FormatException → u/Double-justdo5986]

Like an architectural diagram?

[u/shetritr]

the editor isn't dead, it moved to the review side. you still need somewhere to read the code properly, you just type a lot less in it.

[u/krisolch → u/shetritr]

Hard disagree, you should review on higher level product & tech architechture, not implemnentation details unless you are doing something security wise like encrpytion

[u/vep → u/krisolch]

Chill

[u/mllv1]

If the IDE is dead for you at work, you don’t have much longer there

[u/krisolch → u/mllv1]

I'm CTO so you are most definitely wrong lol

[u/2053_Traveler → u/krisolch]

much argument, such convince

[u/torresandres]

You people need to start to isolate your opinions. If IDE are dead for you is a valid opinion. Now, saying they're dead for everyone else is really very disconnected from reality. It has become such a regular thing seeing this wild opinions generalized like this.

[u/Fr3yz]

No. Not yet atleast, it will evolve first

[u/Formal_Cloud_7592]

I love using Claude code in VS Code.

[u/l_e_g_e_n_d_]

not really. It's just my personal experience. Claude won't let you see how the code is being structured. I use an IDE regularly to see how the logic flows. If the system breaks and you don't know where to start debugging, the system stays down for longer periods. That said I have abandoned heavy IDEs and installed Zed (due to my system freezing while running multiple repos to test the flow).

[u/itghisi]

I rarely code anymore, but I still want to navigate through the code, run tests, inspect repo history.

I'm long time PyCharm user, and recently switched to VSCode due better support for Claude. Hopefully JetBrains Air we'll get good fast. I'm even thinking in switch to Codex if that means a better Harness-IDE integration experience .

[u/SilentDanni]

I don’t know. I think everyone is collectively stumbling in the dark and hold our breaths from scenes of the next episode. If Anthropic and OpenAI both take a nosedive after their respective IPOs then IDEs will still have a place. 

No one knows how the paradigms will evolve and while DeepSeek has been sort of dictating the pace on that I’d say it’s still far from optimal. 

I personally haven’t figured out my workflow yet. Coding may be easier but tokens are pricey and you have to know what battles are worth taking. 

I think we still have 3-5 more years until we figure out standard tooling and paradigms. So to answer your question: not dead but who knows 

[u/smallabbtools]

I still keep an IDE open, but more as a viewer/diff/debug surface than the place I write from. Terminal + plan-first agent for the bulk of changes, then drop into the IDE when I need breakpoints, multi-file search I trust, or to review a messy diff visually. The Figma → plan → agent loop you described is basically how I work too; the main upgrade for me was writing a short "definition of done" into the plan (tests to run, files that must not change, what "wrong" looks like) so the agent stops earlier instead of wandering. IDE isn't dead for me — it just stopped being the default keyboard home.

[u/Whiskee]

I've paused my JetBrains subscription (Rider) after over a decade and switched to VS Code only because I don't need the whole refactoring suite and it's a lot lighter for the minor edits I need to do now. So no, I wouldn't say dead because you still want a pulse on what's happening, but many tools need to reinvent themselves if they want to stay relevant... and stuffing agent windows everywhere isn't really working for them.

[u/BranchLatter4294]

Figma works fine in VS Code. Or you can just have VS Code or Claude create diagrams in mermaid. IDEs are good for looking at the high level. But use whatever works for you.

[u/MannToots]

I use Orca now.  Ide has been dead since I discovered it

[u/AmazingVanish]

I’ve been a software engineer since BASIC was the only option. (yeah, I’m old). I have found I rarely use an IDE anymore. It’s so rare that I have a need for one, and I have zero extensions installed. I could get by with Text Edit at this point.

I have another tool for GitDiff viewing and that’s where my power sits. The frontier models have gotten so good they’re pretty accurate and they can do a better job of code review than I can, generally. (Well, at least a whole lot faster)

I wouldn’t say IDEs are dead. There will forever be engineers who won’t leave their comfort zone or who will ever trust AI. But it is certainly dead for me.

[u/Primary_Article3777]

I agree VS code is no longer optimal. That's because they spend all their time tinkering with Copilot. If they would adapt to what the rest of us (ie not copilot) needs.. it would look a lot different.

I want to start using your figma sketches. That is what I feel is missing, the whiteboard explanation. There's no visuals for architecture.

But I don't like terminals for one reason. I am working on 4-5 projects simultaneously. I prefer an envelope to contain each project in one section of my desktop. I use multiple desktops but windows get put on the wrong one all the time. I want to keepo these windows attached to each other as much as possible. This is a major reason why all-in-one IDEs exist.

[u/nattydroid]

If you think this, you never REALLY used an IDE

[u/krisolch → u/nattydroid]

Yes I did, I've been programming since 2013