--- title: "AI-Assisted Software Development: Coding Agents in Practice" description: "Ship reviewed, tested code with Claude Code, Codex, Copilot and Cursor: context engineering, guardrails, CI and governance" url: https://optimizeall.com/learn/agentic-coding-with-ai updated: 2026-10-05 --- AI · Intermediate · 425 minutes · free · updated Sep 2026 # AI-Assisted Software Development: Coding Agents in Practice Ship reviewed, tested code with Claude Code, Codex, Copilot and Cursor: context engineering, guardrails, CI and governance - **Lessons:** 17 in 6 modules - **Video lectures:** 17 lectures, 150 minutes - **Updated:** Sep 2026 ## Tools you'll use - Claude Code - OpenAI Codex - GitHub Copilot - Cursor - Devin Desktop - Gemini Code Assist - Google Antigravity - GitHub Actions - AGENTS.md - Model Context Protocol - pytest - Vitest - gitleaks [Start the course](https://optimizeall.com/learn/agentic-coding-with-ai/from-autocomplete-to-agents) ## About this course Coding agents can now read your repository, edit code, run tests and open pull requests on their own. Used well, they compress days of work into hours; used carelessly, they ship subtle bugs, leak secrets and flood reviewers. This hands-on course teaches the engineering discipline that makes agents safe and genuinely productive. You will map the 2026 landscape (Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot agent mode and cloud agent, Cursor, Devin Desktop, Gemini Code Assist and Antigravity), master context engineering with AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md, and run plan-implement-verify loops with tests as guardrails. You will use AI for code review, large refactors and debugging, wire agents into GitHub Actions, defend against secret leaks and prompt injection from repositories, set team governance and measure productivity honestly. The capstone ships a real feature end to end with an agent, tests included. ## What you will learn - Choose the right coding tool and interaction mode (pair, delegate, pipeline) for a given task - Write AGENTS.md/CLAUDE.md instruction files and task specs that agents can execute reliably - Run plan-implement-verify loops with tests, hooks and small diffs as guardrails - Use agents for code review, debugging and large refactors or migrations without losing control - Integrate coding agents into GitHub Actions with least-privilege permissions - Defend against secret leaks, risky dependencies and prompt injection hidden in repositories - Set team governance and measure AI-assisted productivity with honest metrics ## Before you start - [Integrating AI Platforms: Claude, OpenAI, Gemini and Open Models via API](https://optimizeall.com/learn/ai-platform-apis-integration) ## Course content ### The coding-agent landscape and how agents work Map the 2026 coding assistant and agent landscape, understand the agent loop and context limits, and choose and set up tools through a fair trial. - [From autocomplete to agents: the 2026 landscape](https://optimizeall.com/learn/agentic-coding-with-ai/from-autocomplete-to-agents): 12 min - [How coding agents work: loops, context and permissions](https://optimizeall.com/learn/agentic-coding-with-ai/how-coding-agents-work): 13 min - [Choosing and setting up tools with a fair trial](https://optimizeall.com/learn/agentic-coding-with-ai/choosing-and-setting-up-tools): 12 min ### Context engineering for codebases Give agents the right context: instruction files (AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md), repo maps, skills, MCP and subagents, and task specs that agents can actually finish. - [Instruction files: AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md and friends](https://optimizeall.com/learn/agentic-coding-with-ai/agent-instruction-files): 13 min - [Repo maps, skills, MCP and the context budget](https://optimizeall.com/learn/agentic-coding-with-ai/repo-maps-and-context-budget): 13 min - [Writing tasks agents can finish](https://optimizeall.com/learn/agentic-coding-with-ai/writing-tasks-agents-can-finish): 12 min ### The plan-implement-verify workflow Run coding agents through explicit explore-plan-implement-verify loops, use tests as the core guardrail, and debug with a scientific protocol. - [The explore-plan-implement-verify loop](https://optimizeall.com/learn/agentic-coding-with-ai/plan-implement-verify-loop): 14 min - [Tests as guardrails: TDD with agents](https://optimizeall.com/learn/agentic-coding-with-ai/tests-as-guardrails): 14 min - [Debugging with agents: a scientific protocol](https://optimizeall.com/learn/agentic-coding-with-ai/debugging-with-agents): 13 min ### Code review, migrations and CI integration Use AI for code review without drowning in noise, run large refactors and migrations safely, and integrate agents into GitHub Actions with least privilege. - [Code review with AI, and reviewing AI code](https://optimizeall.com/learn/agentic-coding-with-ai/ai-code-review): 13 min - [Refactoring and migrations at scale](https://optimizeall.com/learn/agentic-coding-with-ai/refactoring-and-migrations-at-scale): 14 min - [Integrating agents into CI with GitHub Actions](https://optimizeall.com/learn/agentic-coding-with-ai/ci-integration-github-actions): 14 min ### Security, governance and honest measurement Defend against secret leaks, risky dependencies and prompt injection; roll out agents with a clear policy; and measure productivity with balanced, honest metrics. - [Security: secrets, dependencies and prompt injection](https://optimizeall.com/learn/agentic-coding-with-ai/security-for-coding-agents): 15 min - [Team adoption and governance](https://optimizeall.com/learn/agentic-coding-with-ai/team-adoption-and-governance): 13 min - [Measuring AI-assisted productivity honestly](https://optimizeall.com/learn/agentic-coding-with-ai/measuring-productivity-honestly): 13 min ### From vibe coding to shipping: capstone Know when vibe coding is fine and when it isn't, harden prototypes deliberately, and ship a real feature end to end with an agent, tests and review. - [Vibe coding vs engineering discipline](https://optimizeall.com/learn/agentic-coding-with-ai/vibe-coding-vs-engineering-discipline): 12 min - [Capstone: ship a feature end to end with an agent](https://optimizeall.com/learn/agentic-coding-with-ai/capstone-ship-a-feature-end-to-end): 20 min ## Certificate: Certified AI-Assisted Software Engineer The holder can deliver production software with coding agents safely: choosing tools and modes, engineering context with instruction files and task specs, running plan-implement-verify loops with tests as guardrails, using AI for review, debugging and migrations, integrating agents into CI with least privilege, defending against secret leaks and prompt injection, and measuring productivity honestly. - **Final assessment:** 30 questions, 45 minutes - **Passing score:** 80%