GoKawiilExploring the architecture of coding agents by rebuilding a Claude Code-style CLI from scratch in Swift.
Learning Series
A complete 9-part learning series is available on ivanmagda.dev.
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Why This Exists
Claude Code feels unusually effective compared to other coding agents, and I suspect most of it comes from architectural restraint rather than architectural complexity. I studied the tool surface, traced the interaction loop, and tried to isolate which design choices actually matter.
My working theory: coding agents benefit more from a small set of excellent tools and tight loop design than from large orchestration layers.
Claude Code doesn't have many tools. The tools it does have are simple: a search tool, a file editing tool. But those tools are really good. And the system leans on the model far more than most agent implementations — less scaffolding, more trust in the LLM to do the heavy lifting.
This project tests that idea by rebuilding the core mechanics from scratch in Swift, one stage at a time, to see how little architecture you actually need.
Hypothesis
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