Try harder. Ultrathink! (Friends)

The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source

Nick Nisi joins us to discuss all the Windsurf drama, his new agentic lifestyle, whether or not he’s actually more productive, the new paper that says he maybe isn’t more productive, the reckoning he sees coming, and why we might be the last generation of code monkeys.

Join the discussion

Changelog++ members get a bonus 13 minutes at the end of this episode and zero ads. Join today!

Sponsors:

• Auth0 – The identity infrastructure for the age of AI. Built by developers, for developers—Auth0 helps you secure users, agents, and third-party access across modern AI workflows. Token vaulting, fine-grained authorization, and standards-based auth, all in one platform.
  Start building at Auth0.com/ai
• CodeRabbit – AI-native code reviews, built for the modern dev stack. — CodeRabbit is your always-on code reviewer—flagging hallucinations, surfacing smells, and enforcing standards, all without leaving your IDE or GitHub PRs. Trusted by top teams to ship better code, faster.
  Start free at CodeRabbit.ai

Featuring:

• Nick Nisi – Website, GitHub, Bluesky, Mastodon, X
• Jerod Santo – GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
• Adam Stacoviak – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X

Show Notes:

• How Windsurf was Split between OpenAI, Google, and Cognition in a billion-dollar acquisition deal?
• Repo Prompt
• AI slows down open source developers. Peter Naur can teach us why.
• How I use Git Worktrees
• Ultrathink++ | ClaudeLog
• Changelog LIVE in Denver

Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!

Kapitel

1. Let's talk! (00:00:00)

2. Sponsor: Auth0 (00:00:38)

https://auth0.com/ai

3. Confessions & Friends (00:02:07)

4. The Windsurf drama (00:04:39)

https://techfundingnews.com/how-windsurf-was-split-between-openai-google-and-cognition-in-a-billion-dollar-acquisition-deal/

5. The terminal FTW (00:10:42)

6. npm install -g (00:12:24)

7. Claude Code FTW (for now) (00:13:53)

8. Curating your config (00:15:31)

9. Anthropic's advantage (00:17:27)

10. How you use it (00:20:19)

11. Cruising prompts (00:21:26)

12. Adam's a waiter (00:24:01)

13. Having fun now (00:24:50)

14. ChatGPT emotes to Nick (00:26:54)

15. ChatGPT emotes to Adam (00:29:45)

16. ChatGPT emotes to Jerod (00:30:12)

17. Sycophant mode returns (00:30:56)

18. Sponsor: CodeRabbit (00:32:16)

https://www.coderabbit.ai

19. Claude Code endulgence (00:34:59)

20. It can be real dumb (00:38:04)

21. Different agent, different results (00:40:20)

22. Scaling agents (00:41:28)

23. Waiting on the agent(s) (00:42:47)

24. Actually more productive? (00:47:04)

25. The new AI impact paper (00:50:09)

https://johnwhiles.com/posts/mental-models-vs-ai-tools

26. Nick futurecasts (00:54:34)

27. The coming reckoning (00:57:09)

28. Jerod's two minds (00:59:06)

29. Adam is excited, but... (01:02:43)

30. To know or not to know (01:05:46)

31. Jerod sends a volley (01:08:11)

32. Maintaining knowledge (01:09:46)

33. Generational change (01:10:26)

34. Hand-crafted, really? (01:13:54)

35. Nick has a counter-point (01:15:52)

36. Home-cooked apps (01:17:33)

37. Ultrathink! (01:20:15)

38. The value of software (01:22:09)

39. Time to cash-in (01:24:38)

40. The 19% slowdown (01:25:21)

41. Bye, friends (01:27:42)

42. Closing thoughts (join ++) (01:28:05)

https://changelog.com/++