980: AI Coding Explained

Wes and Scott talk about the state of AI coding in 2026—from editors and models to agents, skills, slash commands, MCPs, and more. They unpack what these things actually do, how they overlap, and how to use them effectively without overcomplicating your setup.

Show Notes

• 00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
• 01:39 The tools: editors, terminals, GUIs
• 05:27 Wes’ and Scott’s current AI setups
• 13:17 Picking the right model
• 18:58 How exactly do agents work?
• 22:32 Subagents and parallel workflows
• 24:29 Brought to you by Sentry.io
• 24:54 What goes in agents.md (and what doesn’t)
• 26:47 Skills vs agents
  • Skills
  • Superpowers
• 34:03 Slash commands as reusable prompts
• 36:02 Hooks and keeping your code from going off the rails
• 38:00 Plugins and bundling your setup
• 39:24 What MCP is and why it’s powerful
• 40:54 Cloud agents and running jobs remotely
• 43:47 Choosing the right AI tool
• 47:41 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs

Sick Picks

• Scott: ULTRALOQ Bolt Fingerprint WiFi Smart Lock
• Wes: St. Denis Medical

Shameless Plugs

• Syntax YouTube Channel

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