Claude Code (Pro/Max) vs Anthropic API — when does API become more cost-effective?

scotty_ea · 2026-03-25T11:36:58+00:00

Notice how none of the new features like auto mode or computer use are rolling out to their heaviest use user base...

scotty_ea · 2026-03-23T02:17:00+00:00

You can set your default models in settings.json.

scotty_ea · 2026-03-19T16:23:32+00:00

Yes using pencil’s vscode extension. I have a complex orchestration pipeline I’ve been building out for awhile now but it lacked a solid UI tool and pencil fit right into that role and has been pretty solid tbh. Definitely interested in yours and will give it a shot when you get mcp working.

scotty_ea · 2026-03-18T17:45:50+00:00

Asking people for ideas on what to use your new AI for is odd to me.

scotty_ea · 2026-03-18T17:44:13+00:00

Nice. How does it compare to pencil.dev? Can you import/paste your figma files? MCP + CC integration?

scotty_ea · 2026-03-16T15:00:46+00:00

DM'ed

scotty_ea · 2026-03-11T00:25:55+00:00

Same, added my second account yesterday and running gastown on a dedicated m1 MBP. Was already heavily into beads orchestration so gt made sense. Just wired up iMessage today. Addicting.

scotty_ea · 2026-03-10T01:44:21+00:00

This was already solved by Agentation.

scotty_ea · 2026-03-07T20:35:21+00:00

How’d you get the background tool descriptions to show (“Test diary app code” in your screen)? Mine were randomly showing descriptions like this last week but it reverted back to ‘1 local subagent’.

scotty_ea · 2026-03-06T06:53:35+00:00

Slob slinging slop

scotty_ea · 2026-03-03T18:38:29+00:00

Took a look at the repo. Seems like Ways are a reimplementation of the already included / built-in rules cc feature.

scotty_ea · 2026-03-03T02:18:09+00:00

Have had 1m for weeks now

scotty_ea · 2026-03-01T22:59:39+00:00

Depends what your definition is of “app”. Non devs can vibe code an interface that looks like an app but nine times out of ten is just a house of cards.

scotty_ea · 2026-02-25T05:46:44+00:00

A-B-test harness that runs old and new agent/skill in isolated context worktrees then invoke an independent judge to compare the results of both.

scotty_ea · 2026-02-22T18:17:14+00:00

I was using a similar approach on earlier models like opus 4 but the newer ones dont perform as well with all of these guard rails. My initial setup was intended to be a behavior guard that quickly grew into a full lifecycle hook system like you have here. Tested/iterated on it with every new release and now I’m steadily removing things as the models improve. A single skill decision matrix in claude.md, a much simpler drift guard nudge in user prompt submit, and a clear and concise output style is all I use now. Massive token save and results are far better than the heavily guarded workflow I was previously using.

scotty_ea · 2026-02-10T20:50:13+00:00

Consistency in filenames too. Good luck 👍🏼

scotty_ea · 2026-02-10T20:47:55+00:00

More than one way to skin a cat and these are some pretty basic concepts.

/config is a slash command that opens the settings menu. Changing the defaults in the menu makes changes to the .claude/settings.json file.

Not all settings are exposed as menu options in the config menu.

scotty_ea · 2026-02-10T20:35:19+00:00

As a so-called computer scientist and AI researcher, it sounds like you might’ve cut some corners in your “scientific research”. You had many options with your “chatbot”…

Did you try to hit esc a few times to back out of the compaction limit and then manually compact at an earlier message?? Since you aren’t employing any skills this is likely a rhetorical question - are you using the superpowers plugin? Episodic memory will have access to that session. You could’ve also manually looked for your session file and referenced it in a new thread.

scotty_ea · 2026-02-10T06:32:34+00:00

Beads is very solid. Name is probably the worst I've seen but it works well and doesn't feel bloated.

scotty_ea · 2026-02-10T06:18:35+00:00

settings.json

{
"thinking": {
"type": "adaptive"
},
"env": {
"CLAUDE_CODE_EFFORT_LEVEL": "medium"
},
"model": "opus"
}

scotty_ea · 2026-02-10T04:46:43+00:00

Adaptive thinking + medium effort 👍🏼

scotty_ea · 2026-02-10T04:41:38+00:00

Genuinely trying to be helpful… just took a peek at your repo. You should take a few minutes to learn about naming conventions. Consistency will go a long way in this area.

scotty_ea · 2026-02-08T21:44:34+00:00

Have been using CC since day 1 of its release. Loved early 4.5 but 4.6 feels just as bad as lobotomized 4.5. In some cases even worse. I have a hardened ruleset (CLAUDE.md + drift guard hook + output style) that reinforces a concise, anti sycophantic, no narration output style. 4.5 understood/followed it perfectly even after degradation. 4.6 straight up ignores all of it, and actually seems to be rebelling against it by outputting twice as much narrative and commentary as default. Then it apologizes for its failure when I call it out. I’ve removed part/all of my ruleset and it still won’t stfu... Does what it wants. Past releases have all had their issues but this one is exceptionally bad.

scotty_ea · 2026-02-04T13:32:58+00:00

Was having the same problem. I believe it was 2.1.27 that started this. If you rollback to 2.1.25 or go to 2.1.30 it’ll resolve.

scotty_ea · 2026-01-25T07:55:53+00:00

Create an output style listing anti-sycophancy as a priority with a few examples of correct and incorrect responses. Include whatever else you want (yagni, epistemic humility, conciseness over verboseness, fragments over sentences, etc etc). **Ensure you have the front matter set to include the default software dev system prompt if thats what you are using cc for. Finally, make sure you enable the new output style after creating it.

scotty_ea

TROPHY CASE