# How Thomas Ptacek actually uses coding agents

Matasano, Latacora, Cryptopals

**If you take one thing:** `swiftui-app template`, copied into every new app. one folder carries his rules, skills and no-Xcode build, so every app starts with cp -R and a sentence.

- **Agent:** Claude Code (cli) ([source, 2026-08-20](https://sockpuppet.org/blog/2026/08/20/stop-making-tuis/))
- **Agent:** Codex ([source, 2026-08-20](https://sockpuppet.org/blog/2026/08/20/stop-making-tuis/))
- **Model:** Claude Opus 5.5 ([source, 2026-09-23](https://github.com/tqbf/subpanel/commit/4fbc956835992ff0d45b2717789b0fe78c810e9f))
- **Model:** GPT-5.5 ([source, 2026-04-26](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47912199))
- **Review:** Agents push PRs, only he merges ([source, 2026-08-20](https://github.com/tqbf/swiftui-app/blob/3ca1cc4b8ffdbd3b628cc847574c9951b036fe12/CLAUDE.md#L17))
- **Harness:** A spare MacBook running Claude, Makefile builds, never Xcode ([source, 2026-05-12](https://sockpuppet.org/blog/2026/05/12/emacsification/))
- **Rules file:** CLAUDE.md = AGENTS.md (17 lines), copied into every app ([source, 2026-08-20](https://github.com/tqbf/swiftui-app/blob/3ca1cc4b8ffdbd3b628cc847574c9951b036fe12/CLAUDE.md#L5-L6))
- **Skills:** swiftui-pro, typography-designer, macos-design ([source, 2026-08-20](https://github.com/tqbf/swiftui-app/blob/3ca1cc4b8ffdbd3b628cc847574c9951b036fe12/CLAUDE.md#L8-L15))

## In their words

> In fact, that’s my entire process at this point: I copy a template app directory, open Claude or Codex in it, and tell it what I want to build.

> You want to make sure you’ve got computer-use, or whatever Codex calls it, enabled.

> Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

> As I said elsewhere: I've fed thousands of math problems through ChatGPT (starting with 4o and now with 5.5).

> * You may push PRs, but you MUST NOT ever merge them youself to main.


Archetype (our label): Toolsmith. Newest source: 2026-09-23.
Card: https://www.prehistoriq.com/stacks/tqbf/ · Data: https://github.com/prehistoriq/stacks/blob/main/data/stacks/tqbf.json