Cloud tools & agents

Set up the big cloud players: Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, Copilot, Cursor, Windsurf.

Cloud tools trade privacy for convenience: the model runs on someone else’s hardware, and you talk to it through an API or a signed-in app. Each tutorial below ends with a working setup you can use immediately.

Claude Code: Anthropic's coding agent in your terminal

Install Claude Code with the native installer, sign in with a Claude plan, run your first agentic session, and learn the handful of slash commands that matter. Permissions, CLAUDE.md and headless mode included.

Codex CLI: OpenAI's terminal agent, with a sandbox and a local-model escape hatch

Install Codex CLI, sign in with your ChatGPT plan, learn the sandbox and approval flags that keep it safe, wire it to LM Studio or Ollama with --oss, and run it headless with codex exec.

Gemini CLI: the agent with the free tier that actually works

Install Gemini CLI, log in with a personal Google account, get 1,000 requests a day for free, and learn the @file, !shell and /memory moves that make it a daily driver.

GitHub Copilot: the agent inside the editor you already use

Install Copilot in VS Code, sign in with a GitHub account (free plan included), switch Chat into agent mode, and use the Copilot CLI for terminal work. Plans and AI credits explained without the marketing.

Cursor: the AI-first editor, now sold through The X Subscription

Install Cursor, sign in, run your first Agent task with Cmd/Ctrl+I, and understand the 2026 twist: Cursor is now part of The X Subscription, with new plans from $0 to $200. Legacy Cursor plans still work.

Windsurf is now Devin Desktop: install it and run your first agent

On June 2, 2026, Windsurf became Devin Desktop. Same editor, same extensions, new owner (Cognition). Here's how to install it, import your VS Code or Cursor setup, and use the agent — plus the Free tier's surprising limits.