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


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