What do you usually do while an AI agent is writing code?
Do you just wait, work on something else, or review the changes as they happen?
For me, every commit tells a story. To really understand the code, I first need to understand why each change was made and how it fits into the bigger picture.
That’s why I try to stay involved while the agent is working—reviewing the diff, creating a issues, following the logic, and making sure it’s heading in the right direction.
Vibe coding is fast, but you still need to control the wings. The goal isn’t just to generate code—it’s to understand what’s being built.
Sometimes curiosity is not a distraction. It’s what helps us catch bad decisions early, understand our own product, and ship with confidence.
What do you think? Should agents work completely independently while we relax, or should developers stay involved throughout the process?
Curious to hear how everyone else uses that “idle time.”
Replies
For me, I’m usually working in iTerm, and while the agent is coding, I try to stay in the loop by checking recent commits, reviewing diffs, and understanding why every change was made.
I like working from a single screen, so constantly jumping between my terminal, GitHub, and other tools kills the flow.
And yes, when an agent is running, we all love watching it work. But honestly, staring at the agent—sometimes more than I stare at my girlfriend—doesn’t magically make me understand the code better 😂
That’s why I use FlowNotch on Mac. I can just hover and quickly see diffs, commits, file trees, issues, PRs, and comments without leaving my beloved terminal.
It keeps me close to what the agent is doing without turning me into a full-time AI babysitter.
I’m looking at this moment knowing that, finally, I can move on to something else.
Let’s be honest: if your system is set up correctly and your agent handles a single, well‑defined task with a clear Definition of Done, you just launch it and it goes to the finish line. At the same time, you can comfortably make other product or strategic decisions, do marketing, etc.
Let’s be honest, handing off a clearly defined task with a clear ending so you can focus on something else is, in my view, the best approach — at least in my specific situation.