Agentic AI programming is what happens when coding assistants stop acting like autocomplete and start collaborating on real work. In this episode, we cut through the hype and incentives to define “agentic,” then get hands-on with how tools like Cursor, Claude Code, and LangChain actually behave inside an established codebase. Our guest, Matt Makai, now VP of Developer Relations at DigitalOcean, creator of Full Stack Python and Plushcap, shares hard-won tactics. We unpack what breaks, from brittle “generate a bunch of tests” requests to agents amplifying technical debt and uneven design patterns. Plus, we also discuss a sane git workflow for AI-sized diffs. You’ll hear practical Claude tips, why developers write more bugs when typing less, and where open source agents are headed. Hint: The destination is humans as editors of systems, not just typists of code. 
 
Episode sponsors 
 
<a href='https://talkpython.fm/connect-cloud'>Posit</a>
<a href='https://talkpython.fm/training'>Talk Python Courses</a> 
 
<h2 class="links-heading">Links from the show</h2>
<div>Matt Makai: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewmakai/?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >linkedin.com</a> 
 
Plushcap Developer Content Analytics: <a href="https://www.plushcap.com/?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >plushcap.com</a> 
DigitalOcean Gradient AI Platform: <a href="https://www.digitalocean.com/products/gradient/platform?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >digitalocean.com</a> 
DigitalOcean YouTube Channel: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/digitalocean" target="_blank" >youtube.com</a> 
Why Generative AI Coding Tools and Agents Do Not Work for Me: <a href="https://blog.miguelgrinberg.com/post/why-generative-ai-coding-tools-and-agents-do-not-work-for-me?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >blog.miguelgrinberg.com</a> 
AI Changes Everything: <a href="https://lucumr.pocoo.org/2025/6/4/changes/?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >lucumr.pocoo.org</a> 
Claude Code - 47 Pro Tips in 9 Minutes: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiNpzxoBPz0" target="_blank" >youtube.com</a> 
Cursor AI Code Editor: <a href="https://cursor.com/en?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >cursor.com</a> 
JetBrains Junie: <a href="https://www.jetbrains.com/junie/?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >jetbrains.com</a> 
Claude Code by Anthropic: <a href="https://www.anthropic.com/claude-code?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >anthropic.com</a> 
Full Stack Python: <a href="https://www.fullstackpython.com/?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >fullstackpython.com</a> 
Watch this episode on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYhXCELk05E" target="_blank" >youtube.com</a> 
Episode #517 deep-dive: <a href="https://talkpython.fm/episodes/show/517/agentic-al-programming-with-python#takeaways-anchor" target="_blank" >talkpython.fm/517</a> 
Episode transcripts: <a href="https://talkpython.fm/episodes/transcript/517/agentic-al-programming-with-python" target="_blank" >talkpython.fm</a> 
Developer Rap Theme Song: Served in a Flask: <a href="https://talkpython.fm/flasksong" target="_blank" >talkpython.fm/flasksong</a> 
 
--- Stay in touch with us --- 
Subscribe to Talk Python on YouTube: <a href="https://talkpython.fm/youtube" target="_blank" >youtube.com</a> 
Talk Python on Bluesky: <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/talkpython.fm" target="_blank" >@talkpython.fm at bsky.app</a> 
Talk Python on Mastodon: <a href="https://fosstodon.org/web/@talkpython" target="_blank" >talkpython</a> 
Michael on Bluesky: <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/mkennedy.codes?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >@mkennedy.codes at bsky.app</a> 
Michael on Mastodon: <a href="https://fosstodon.org/web/@mkennedy" target="_blank" >mkennedy</a> </div>

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