# Finding the right files in the codebase (`context.codebase_retrieval`)

Feedback Bench, coding agents, built 2026-10-19, window 2026-08-31 to 2026-10-18. Web page: https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/#/criterion/context.codebase_retrieval

Area: [Instructing and context](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/criteria/context.md)

**Definition.** How the agent searches and indexes a repository and pulls in relevant files. Covers over-reading on trivial edits and missing files in large or multi-repo codebases.

**Boundary.** Not this: see [Single prompt, model or effort level consumes disproportionate quota](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/criteria/limits.burn_rate.md) for consumption not tied to file reading.

Rated user-weeks, all agents: 661. Complaint share: 56%.

## The brief

Written by large language models from this page's numbers and the posts it quotes, then checked: every number in the text is in the build. Interpretation, not measurement.

Cursor is best at finding the right files. Users say it indexes the whole codebase and can move through any file, whether or not anyone has worked on it recently. Claude Code also ranks high, and users say it is good at finding files. The criterion makes up 0.8% of what users of AI coding agents rate. Google Antigravity ranks low, 5th of 5. Its users say it reads the entire codebase for a quick fix. 59 of its rated user-weeks complain and 15 praise.

### What separates the best from the rest

Users praise the agents at the top for reaching the code they need. They fault the agent at the bottom for reading much more than the task needs. Cursor and Claude Code users describe whole-project indexing, workspaces that span several projects, and searches that find the right file. Google Antigravity users describe it scanning all the code for a simple UI fix and running grep after grep to read one file. They say it reads the whole codebase even after being told which files to edit.

- **Ranks high**: [Claude Code](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/claude-code.md), [Cursor](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/cursor.md)
  - Cursor, 2026-10-06, r/cursor (Reddit): “yep, and actually opus and sol are a little bit better in cursor. i have all 20'$ subscriptions. and cursor code discovery is still unmatched” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1wylfi5/using_claude_code_cursor/pe4giwj/)
  - Claude Code, 2026-10-07, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “i do that for some certain files, and im a wiz, mac search can be notoriously poor. claude is actually quite good at finding files oddly enough” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wzqk1f/claude_opus_55_deleted_a_users_c_drive/pee5s32/)
- **Ranks low**: [Google Antigravity](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/antigravity.md)
  - Google Antigravity, 2026-10-04, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “sometimes i need to make a specific quick fix and i give him the exact files he has to edit, and he stills read the entire codebase” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wxc878/for_a_product_thats_made_by_google_it_would/pds5kqm/)
  - Google Antigravity, 2026-10-08, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “true, it ran 10 grep commands just to read a ts file with 500 lines, and only stop when i specifically told it to use analyze file” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1x0u1lt/how_it_feels_using_38_flash/penwnva/)

## How it breaks

Rule: A separate pass sorts complaints into failure modes. For each criterion with at least 30 complaining user-weeks, a large language model reads 150 complaint posts drawn at random and names 4 to 8 failure modes; a second large language model then puts every complaint post on that criterion in one mode, or in Other when it fits none. Modes are fixed once named, and new posts are sorted into them each week. A mode counts distinct user-weeks with a complaint in it, per agent; across agents, one user-week per agent. Modes do not change the labels or the Feedback Score. Examples: up to 3 posts per mode from different users, chosen and checked as receipts are.

The largest failure mode is over-reading the repository on small tasks, at 21% of complaining user-weeks. Google Antigravity users account for 32% of it. The second largest mode is skipping code the task needs. It comes most often from Claude Code users, at 47%. Complaints that the agent cannot reach the repository or has not indexed it come most often from OpenAI Codex users, at 37%.

373 complaining user-weeks.

| Failure mode | User-weeks | Posts | Agents (user-weeks) | Definition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Over-reading the repository on small tasks | 80 | 85 | Google Antigravity 26, Claude Code 18, OpenAI Codex 14, Cursor 7, OpenCode 6, Pi 4, Cline 3, GitHub Copilot 1, Zed 1 | The agent reads far more files, or much bigger files, than a small or narrow task needs: scanning whole directories, dumping huge files, generated files or build logs into context, or running floods of ls/grep calls, which burns tokens and context; repeat reads of content it already has belong to the re-reading mode. |
| Skipping code needed for the task | 68 | 71 | Claude Code 32, OpenAI Codex 22, Google Antigravity 5, OpenCode 4, Cursor 2, Cline 1, Conductor 1, GitHub Copilot 1 | The agent reads too little, for example a few lines through truncated reads or none at all, and then guesses, missing existing helpers, patterns, earlier decisions or relevant files, so it gives wrong answers or duplicates code; reading too much is out. |
| Repository not reachable or not indexed | 57 | 57 | OpenAI Codex 21, Claude Code 12, Cursor 11, Google Antigravity 3, OpenCode 3, GitHub Copilot 2, Devin 2, Amp 1, Pi 1, Zed 1 | The agent or product cannot see the user's code at all or sees only part of it: the web chat has no repo access, GitHub sync is missing, the repo is over the size limit, indexing stalls, file tools fail on WSL or local paths, folders are invisible, or multiple repos are not supported; poor search choices when access works are out. |
| Brute-force text search instead of structured retrieval | 48 | 54 | Claude Code 16, OpenAI Codex 9, Google Antigravity 7, Cursor 4, OpenCode 4, Pi 4, Cline 1, GitHub Copilot 1, Kiro 1, Zed 1 | The agent falls back to repeated raw grep, glob or full-file reads instead of using an available index, code graph, LSP or semantic search tool, or such tools return noisy or truncated results that force full-file reads; cases where no repository access exists at all are out. |
| Re-reading content already in context | 33 | 37 | Claude Code 12, Google Antigravity 9, OpenAI Codex 8, Cursor 2, OpenCode 1, Zed 1 | The agent reads the same files or lines again, or re-explores the repo for information it already gathered earlier in the session or in a file it just created, when nothing has changed; a first-time read that is merely too broad belongs to the over-reading mode. |
| Reading outside the relevant project scope | 28 | 28 | Claude Code 9, OpenCode 6, Cursor 4, OpenAI Codex 3, Devin 2, Pi 2, Google Antigravity 1, GitHub Copilot 1 | The agent opens directories it has no reason to touch, such as other folders on the drive, dependency folders like node_modules, ignored or temp folders, or stale fixtures and backups, and lets that unrelated or outdated content shape its work; over-reading inside the right project area is out. |
| Missing project-wide search and navigation in the tool | 27 | 28 | Zed 4, Google Antigravity 3, Claude Code 3, OpenAI Codex 3, GitHub Copilot 3, Cursor 3, OpenCode 3, Amp 2, Pi 2, Cline 1 | The tool's interface lacks reliable search, file tagging or code navigation for the user, such as global code search, @-mentions outside the main directory, or search that misses files in unversioned repos, so users switch to another editor; how the agent itself searches is out. |
| Other | 39 | 40 | Claude Code 13, OpenAI Codex 11, Google Antigravity 6, Cursor 3, OpenCode 2, Augment Code 1, Devin 1, Pi 1, Zed 1 | Complaints that fit none of the modes above. |

#### Over-reading the repository on small tasks

- Google Antigravity, 2026-10-18, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “this is definitely a major issue. like even 6 month old models will look in a certain place if you tell them. but not gemini, it'll scan your whole api code when you just needed a simple ui fix.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1x8x6nn/dont_worry_too_much_argon_its_genuinely_not_that/phgsipn/)
- Claude Code, 2026-10-08, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “planning burns the most because claude code globs and reads half the repo first. point it at the files you mean with @ and the same plan goes much further.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x0qzhc/max_plan_worth_the_price/pena1h0/)
- Claude Code, 2026-10-07, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “all documentation files are written and organized to be readable to me so i would never throw them away. nonetheless, i tried the thrick by curiosity and it was terrible. the ai either make wrong assumption or need to read too much files to understand a task.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wzv0bj/to_those_tho_threw_away_all_their_markdown_files/pei7g76/)

#### Skipping code needed for the task

- Claude Code, 2026-10-15, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “in my experience it goes what it deems the most likely and easiest to use for a given task, rarely checks what is available. this is even more so, when you are not enforcing dry.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x6ppke/do_you_let_claude_code_choose_libraries_and/pgxcffq/)
- Claude Code, 2026-10-07, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “cool, so it tells me my subagent read 180 lines of a 1323 line file and still got it wrong” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wzi6m4/slashcoverage_see_which_files_each_claude_code/pebx394/)
- Claude Code, 2026-10-06, @ClaudeDevs (X): “@claudeai @claudedevs -- why does claude do this? i mean, by default, it doesn't actually read anything and just uses memory?! disgusted. [link]” [source](https://twitter.com/1383925554907209728/status/2107500131973312776)

#### Repository not reachable or not indexed

- OpenAI Codex, 2026-10-10, r/codex (Reddit): “same for me.. even for simple tasks it is often not able to find the file in the current sandbox and asks me for permission to edit the file via absolute path from outside the sandbox” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1x1v7vk/luna_calling_out_61_sol_for_trying_to_cheat/pf52onu/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-10-02, r/codex (Reddit): “thanks i have done that through settings i assume its the same thing? but that still doesn’t solve the issue that i can’t see any of my other repos🥲 apparently the new projects in beta is solving this?” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wvffy9/you_dont_know_what_u_had_till_u_lose_it_i_didnt/pdbrva8/)
- Google Antigravity, 2026-09-27, @antigravity (X): “@silas[phone] @antigravity @officiallogank and also the issue where it keeps telling you folders don't exist, which are the project folder.” [source](https://twitter.com/1222023926123040768/status/2104049296626565207)

#### Brute-force text search instead of structured retrieval

- Google Antigravity, 2026-10-08, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “true, it ran 10 grep commands just to read a ts file with 500 lines, and only stop when i specifically told it to use analyze file” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1x0u1lt/how_it_feels_using_38_flash/penwnva/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-22, r/codex (Reddit): “for feedback it surely reduces overhead, the problem is when it tries to find references, if the tool output isn't formatted correctly to include code snippets the model will go and read the hole file” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wb0mi7/do_lsps_improve_agentic_coding_agents/pbc31yn/)

#### Re-reading content already in context

- Google Antigravity, 2026-10-05, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “welcome to a shitty harness that'll read a file over 10 times before implementing anything” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wxognt/gone_in_a_flash/pdzl7nw/)
- Google Antigravity, 2026-09-16, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “i mean it's confusing to use these model, the past iteration changes/files the agent reads again and again! i am looking to add some graphify kind of tool/mcp but couldn't able to find to this” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1whnh0m/which_antigravity_model_do_you_actually_use_for/pa8rxo4/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-14, r/codex (Reddit): “it is a problem, i have external controls because the codex log shows repo discovery happends way to often when the data is already in the context.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wdpdpt/this_is_where_your_limits_have_gone/p9tx5z0/)

#### Reading outside the relevant project scope

- Claude Code, 2026-10-11, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “you should be careful. i did that on one project and it referenced a lot of stuff from the ignored temp folder into the documentation of the project and the test harness. when i asked why, we had that thing with apologizing and the whole ritual before it fixed it's crap.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x35157/how_do_you_clean_up_all_the_baggage_clude_code/pf8ai1j/)
- Cursor, 2026-09-12, r/cursor (Reddit): “i don't trust the way it keeps reading files not necessary to answering the prompt. especially on my work laptop.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1weddl3/thats_has_happened_to_cursor/p9dagrw/)
- OpenCode, 2026-09-09, @opencode (X): “this is happening more than ever in @opencode with @openai models. even for simple task where you only need a data inside the repository the model trying to get outside. [link]” [source](https://twitter.com/1341301834527498241/status/2097652758945882477)

#### Missing project-wide search and navigation in the tool

- OpenCode, 2026-09-25, @opencode (X): “@opencode really needs "add dir" or "add to workspace" feature to add folders it can work at once. references is fine, but having the harness view repos across different paths without having to manually make opencode.json is much better.” [source](https://twitter.com/1383806712545562628/status/2103403834756473288)
- Pi, 2026-09-24, r/PiCodingAgent (Reddit): “hi all, basically what the title says.. i like using @ to add files/folders to the context but for any of these added to .gitignore it stops working.. any way around this?” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1wp8cos/cant_reference_gitignore_filesfolders_with/)
- Cline, 2026-09-19, @cline (X): “@cline hey @cline, v0.0.32 is great, but workspace folder selection has a critical issue: without selecting a target folder inside the workspace, search_codebase becomes useless and forces absolute paths, breaking context workflow.” [source](https://twitter.com/4161108994/status/2101306814574813242)

#### Other

- Google Antigravity, 2026-09-22, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “if i need to say "read lines 100-320 of file x, 200-420 of file y, do this this and that" what would be the point?” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wnfcoo/has_antigravity_started_aggressively_scanning/pbel9is/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-21, r/codex (Reddit): “honestly, this feels like a scam to me. few prompt with "still not working", while codex just copy the whole repo to edits the code there, instead of the code im running. am i missing something here? [link]” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wm4yxd/codexsol_burning_tokens_trying_to_fix_bug_in_a/)

## Top requests

What users ask to add or change, most asked first. 86 user-weeks ask for something. Requests do not change the Feedback Score. Rule: A separate pass by a large language model reads every counted post and extracts what the user asks the agent or its vendor to add or change, with the criteria it maps to and a short normalised wording; it does not touch the labels or the Feedback Score. A large language model groups the wordings within each criterion (the first criterion the request maps to) into themes, and a second pass merges themes that ask for the same change under different criteria; a merged theme sits under the criterion most of its requests map to, and code counts it once. A theme counts distinct user-weeks that ask for it, per agent; across agents, one user-week per agent. Themes asked in fewer than 2 user-weeks, and requests that share no theme, are not shown. Examples: up to 3 posts per theme from different users, without slurs: whole posts of 60 to 450 characters with at least 8 words beyond handles and links, posts of at most 280 characters first, then the newest.

| Rank | Request | User-weeks | Posts | Agents (user-weeks) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Multi-repo and multi-folder workspaces | 17 | 17 | Claude Code 5, Cursor 5, OpenAI Codex 3, Amp 1, Cline 1, OpenCode 1, Zed 1 |
| 2 | Targeted codebase retrieval | 12 | 12 | Claude Code 7, Google Antigravity 3, OpenAI Codex 1, Cursor 1 |
| 3 | Reuse existing code instead of reinventing | 10 | 10 | Claude Code 5, OpenAI Codex 5 |
| 4 | Built-in native codebase index | 8 | 8 | Claude Code 2, Cursor 2, Augment Code 1, OpenAI Codex 1, GitHub Copilot 1, Factory 1 |
| 5 | Automatic codebase understanding without rules files | 7 | 7 | Claude Code 2, OpenAI Codex 2, Augment Code 1, Cursor 1, Kiro 1 |
| 6 | Code knowledge graph for large codebases | 6 | 6 | Claude Code 2, OpenAI Codex 2, GitHub Copilot 2 |
| 7 | Configurable file inclusion and exclusion rules | 4 | 4 | Claude Code 1, OpenAI Codex 1, Cursor 1, Devin 1 |
| 8 | Faster project-wide code search | 4 | 4 | OpenAI Codex 2, Cline 1, Zed 1 |
| 9 | Shell-style grep, glob and multi-file read tools | 3 | 3 | Google Antigravity 2, Cline 1 |
| 10 | Respect configured code graph MCP tool | 2 | 2 | GitHub Copilot 1, OpenCode 1 |

### 1. Multi-repo and multi-folder workspaces

- Zed, 2026-10-17, @zeddotdev (X): “@code workspaces are such a great feature. it just make switching between repo very very easy. i wish every code editor must add it. @zeddotdev has projects but i still had to write script to make it work somewhat like vscode.” [source](https://twitter.com/1746242198331707392/status/2111483098609438908)
- Claude Code, 2026-10-14, @ClaudeDevs (X): “@claudedevs and fucking impossible to use more folders/projects in one thread, which i was able to do two hours ago” [source](https://twitter.com/1227241808255541248/status/2110485360023118333)
- Claude Code, 2026-10-13, @ClaudeDevs (X): “@lydiahallie @argofowl @claudedevs kinda sucks that it isn’t as centralized/simple as dots. i still have to create a separate “project” for all of my projects instead of just one chat that can work on any of them” [source](https://twitter.com/1986169489772453893/status/2110107862336696597)

### 2. Targeted codebase retrieval

- Google Antigravity, 2026-10-06, @antigravity (X): “@adhidesign @googledeepmind @antigravity add plug-ins and plungin creation 2nd improve its backend harness to stop over searching” [source](https://twitter.com/1801918821193621504/status/2107437488281436463)
- Claude Code, 2026-10-01, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “right like i want it to merge a couple prs and it will review my entire codebase first like bruh” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1ws4qmd/anyone_else_does_30_hours_of_unattended/pd538ff/)
- Cursor, 2026-09-24, @cursor_ai (X): “@spolen23 @cursor_ai selective tools help. overnight bleed is still the full repo in context. persist outside the chat and pull the matching slice per turn.” [source](https://twitter.com/2068373412322451457/status/2103143044354543972)

### 3. Reuse existing code instead of reinventing

- OpenAI Codex, 2026-10-06, r/codex (Reddit): “add a feature that searches github for shit that already exists in 19 other forms” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wz1955/im_building_hellhound_codex_claude_code_in_one/pe7iwge/)
- Claude Code, 2026-10-05, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “can you tell me more? i essentially want to insist that claude checks if the requested component is available in my sdk before trying to freehand something” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wybijm/can_someone_recommend_a_claude_workflow/pe18f04/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-11, r/codex (Reddit): “i haven't actually had my agents come and say "this app exists out there, take inspiration from it" much at all, ever. i wish they were more tuned in to doing that unprompted, it would create better results from vibe coding and surely reduce the slop” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wcfboo/training_astra/p96lx21/)

### 4. Built-in native codebase index

- Cursor, 2026-09-23, r/cursor (Reddit): “agree cursor has the best overall integrated agentic workflow. even more so now with grok bot. if only they could make origin codebase easy to use, improve the mobile app, and get a proper frontier model” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1woad6b/grok_47_performance_in_cursor/pbo2fhm/)
- Factory, 2026-09-20, @droid (X): “@droid you guys should work a context solution like fast context, embedded search and such effeciency and cost is a big reason people love alternatives to codex where the subsidization is massive model agnostic + cheaper costs because less time needed to search (aside subagents)” [source](https://twitter.com/1948570504979271680/status/2101651811689968065)
- Augment Code, 2026-09-08, @augmentcode (X): “@bcherny @addyosmani @anthropicai boris please implement a context engine to your models. better yet take over @augmentcode and become unstoppable. i fucking beg you” [source](https://twitter.com/1795256572102209537/status/2097359764678214092)

### 5. Automatic codebase understanding without rules files

- Augment Code, 2026-10-11, @augmentcode (X): “@phodal @augmentcode reducing the need to manually go through the code multiple times to find context will make writing much easier.” [source](https://twitter.com/1518315606830829568/status/2109255181661782450)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-01, r/codex (Reddit): “yes i was considering documenting it in .md files but i was hoping there would be a better alternative or ways to 'discover' and 'know' a codebase properly.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1w4rcqr/how_do_you_stop_known_coding_mistakes/p79jvqm/)
- Claude Code, 2026-10-08, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “you realize even the simplest step would be extraordinarily complex if the codebase is complex itself? these models do not proactively look for reference code or get a full picture of the architecture before proceeding. and if i have to tell it exactly what to read and exactly what to do i might as well use a local model.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wz491h/how_do_i_get_claude_code_to_explain_things_better/pephb4f/)

### 6. Code knowledge graph for large codebases

- Claude Code, 2026-10-04, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “what….. that’s literally what the graph is supposed to support. you don’t have to use the graph as the ui, but you agent is supposed to be able to traverse it and easily give you this answer without having to “rediscover” it every time you fire up a new session.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wwzw33/nothing_beats_a_database_for_agent_memory/pdqpn2e/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-22, r/codex (Reddit): “i'd also add: things agents frequently get confused by and spend lots of tokens trying to figure out. it helps with big complex legacy codebases” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wn8ckg/i_did_it/pbdigi0/)
- GitHub Copilot, 2026-09-05, r/GithubCopilot (Reddit): “yes something like cognitions deepwiki would be tremendous. there are a ton of middling products out there but nothing as good as it, and nothing in copilot that works as well. would love that hosted in the github infrastructure too.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/GithubCopilot/comments/1w7s69c/feature_request_openwiki/p7ykegv/)

### 7. Configurable file inclusion and exclusion rules

- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-11, X search: OpenAI Codex, Codex CLI, Codex app (X): “your ai coding assistant might be reading your secrets files, and there's no reliable way to stop it. openai codex still can't exclude sensitive files from context. that's not a bug — it's a governance failure. read more: [link]” [source](https://twitter.com/242644600/status/2098460339687813211)
- Devin, 2026-08-31, @cognition (X): “@da7_tech @cognition why can't devin read gitignore files normally? it would be nice if this was optimized” [source](https://twitter.com/2026153157953519617/status/2094291002429460513)
- Cursor, 2026-09-17, @cursor_ai (X): “@cursor_ai projects this direction of "fixing the context" is quite practical, especially for long-term maintained repositories. what really determines whether it is useful or not may be the boundaries: which files can be read and written by the agent, how permissions are inherited, and whether the context will mix when switching projects. this has a greater impact on daily use than adding another fancy button.” [source](https://twitter.com/2259799350/status/2100406722607157689)

### 8. Faster project-wide code search

- Cline, 2026-09-19, @cline (X): “@cline hey @cline, v0.0.32 is great, but workspace folder selection has a critical issue: without selecting a target folder inside the workspace, search_codebase becomes useless and forces absolute paths, breaking context workflow.” [source](https://twitter.com/4161108994/status/2101306814574813242)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-01, r/codex (Reddit): “sol thinks way too much and it is hard to change the course if it goes into wrong way. so it takes 2x more time and 2x more tokens to actually get things done than claude…. claude at least is very fast at searching codebase. codex sub agents take forever.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1w4g47s/remember_when_gpt_would_just_do_the_task/p77j6oz/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-10-05, X search: OpenAI Codex, Codex CLI, Codex app (X): “4/8 — global code search in the codex app in vs code, i can search across the entire project for something like “function abc” and immediately see every matching file. i can’t find an equivalent global code search in the codex app. right now, i have to go back to vs code, find the result there, then manually locate the same file in codex. a project-wide search in the codex app would make this workflow much smoother.” [source](https://twitter.com/1725773687796944896/status/2107130888652021884)

### 9. Shell-style grep, glob and multi-file read tools

- Google Antigravity, 2026-09-29, @antigravity (X): “@antigravity please allow us to inspect more than one file at once. pls...” [source](https://twitter.com/1888966434367168512/status/2104995300137927079)

### 10. Respect configured code graph MCP tool


## Every agent

| Agent | Overall rank | Reading | Customer love | 95% interval | n | Praise | Complaint |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Cursor](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/cursor.md) | 7 | 1st of 5 | 0.545 | 0.521–0.572 | 83 | 50 | 33 |
| [Claude Code](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/claude-code.md) | 1 | 2nd of 5 | 0.522 | 0.487–0.557 | 220 | 106 | 114 |
| [OpenAI Codex](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/codex.md) | 10 | 3rd of 5 | 0.491 | 0.461–0.520 | 146 | 59 | 87 |
| [OpenCode](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/opencode.md) | 3 | 4th of 5 | 0.483 | 0.467–0.500 | 40 | 13 | 27 |
| [Google Antigravity](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/antigravity.md) | 14 | 5th of 5 | 0.440 | 0.416–0.461 | 74 | 15 | 59 |
| [Pi](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/pi.md) | 4 | Too few posts | – | – | 23 | 9 | 14 |
| [Zed](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/zed.md) | 8 | Too few posts | – | – | 15 | 6 | 9 |
| [Augment Code](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/augment.md) | 17 | Too few posts | – | – | 15 | 15 | 0 |
| [GitHub Copilot](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/copilot.md) | 9 | Too few posts | – | – | 14 | 5 | 9 |
| [Devin](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/devin.md) | 2 | Too few posts | – | – | 11 | 6 | 5 |
| [Cline](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/cline.md) | 11 | Too few posts | – | – | 10 | 4 | 6 |
| [Amp](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/amp.md) | 5 | Too few posts | – | – | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| [Factory](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/factory.md) | 6 | Too few posts | – | – | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| [Conductor](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/conductor.md) | 12 | Too few posts | – | – | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| [Kiro](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/kiro.md) | 13 | Too few posts | – | – | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| [Warp](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/warp.md) | 15 | Too few posts | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| [Grok Build](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/grok-build.md) | 16 | Too few posts | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Posts

Receipts rule: Up to 5 praise and 5 complaint posts per area and 3 per criterion. Each is a whole post of 60 to 450 characters (700 for areas) with at least 8 words beyond handles and links, that judges the criterion, whose labels are all praise or all complaint, and that contains no slur. Posts that touch the fewest criteria come first, then posts of at most 280 characters, then the newest. A second large language model reads the first 3 candidates per slot and keeps a post only if it clearly praises, or clearly complains about, the agent on that criterion. Links and personal details removed by the source show as marks such as [link].

### Cursor

- Praise, 2026-10-13, r/cursor (Reddit): “true. also from experience, cursor are the first one who was doing a great job indexing the codebase. i think i don't know right now what's the situation with claude and the rest, but cursor are doing a great job at that as well.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1x4or37/cursor_new_plans_and_major_changes/pggxay8/)
- Praise, 2026-10-10, @cursor_ai (X): “if you are going to write code, without a doubt, the claude model inside @cursor_ai sees not just a single file but the entire project and finds where the error is by itself. pasting code into chatgpt all the time is now a waste of time.” [source](https://twitter.com/1034446320960983041/status/2108806829707030775)
- Praise, 2026-10-06, r/cursor (Reddit): “yep, and actually opus and sol are a little bit better in cursor. i have all 20'$ subscriptions. and cursor code discovery is still unmatched” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1wylfi5/using_claude_code_cursor/pe4giwj/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-05, @cursor_ai (X): “@dataguybobby @cursor_ai build as well...it's damn near trying to read the whole drive to do anything.” [source](https://twitter.com/1916468546395426816/status/2107166653901668656)
- Complaint, 2026-09-19, r/cursor (Reddit): “there does seem to be a bug where if the index cache is corrupt, it just sits there waiting.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1wkezqe/i_think_they_just_broke_cursor_completely/paq6aw8/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-12, r/cursor (Reddit): “i don't trust the way it keeps reading files not necessary to answering the prompt. especially on my work laptop.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1weddl3/thats_has_happened_to_cursor/p9dagrw/)

### Claude Code

- Praise, 2026-10-12, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “tokens also must be spent to keep that up-front context up to date. if it isn't, even more tokens can be spent on false assumptions. claude is a grep master, imo it's best to let the agent just look at the source of truth” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x3zhlj/are_generated_claudemd_files_good_or_bad_practice/pfgbrvg/)
- Praise, 2026-10-07, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “i do that for some certain files, and im a wiz, mac search can be notoriously poor. claude is actually quite good at finding files oddly enough” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wzqk1f/claude_opus_55_deleted_a_users_c_drive/pee5s32/)
- Praise, 2026-10-07, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “the ux is not the pitch. nobody recommends claude code because they enjoy the summary paragraph after every edit. they tolerate it because it reads the files before it changes them, and codex being quieter does not mean it looked. you are comparing a report to silence.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wzz1jr/unpopular_opinion_i_dont_like_claude_code_too_much/peic8tu/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-15, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “in my experience it goes what it deems the most likely and easiest to use for a given task, rarely checks what is available. this is even more so, when you are not enforcing dry.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x6ppke/do_you_let_claude_code_choose_libraries_and/pgxcffq/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-11, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “you should be careful. i did that on one project and it referenced a lot of stuff from the ignored temp folder into the documentation of the project and the test harness. when i asked why, we had that thing with apologizing and the whole ritual before it fixed it's crap.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x35157/how_do_you_clean_up_all_the_baggage_clude_code/pf8ai1j/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-08, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “planning burns the most because claude code globs and reads half the repo first. point it at the files you mean with @ and the same plan goes much further.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x0qzhc/max_plan_worth_the_price/pena1h0/)

### OpenAI Codex

- Praise, 2026-10-10, r/OpenAI (Reddit): “use codex in vs code and just ask it. i work with very large codebases all the time. codex handles it all just fine.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenAI/comments/1x2p219/codex_to_review_reference_large_markdown/pf45h9f/)
- Praise, 2026-10-04, X search: OpenAI Codex, Codex CLI, Codex app (X): “@joshua_wd @yashkavaiya great question, so i used a chatgpt/codex app and created a separate folder, kept all the chat sessions in there, and the chatgpt/codex app automatically takes the context every time and reads the minimum from the codebase.” [source](https://twitter.com/839066588/status/2106766788377952639)
- Praise, 2026-09-30, r/codex (Reddit): “i'm not a fan of claude. yeah it might have the edge for a new project starting out or something small. codex does sifting through large code much better and this is huge for me.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wu0d5o/61sol_vs_opus_55_small_task_on_both_20_plan/pd1j9ml/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-10, r/codex (Reddit): “same for me.. even for simple tasks it is often not able to find the file in the current sandbox and asks me for permission to edit the file via absolute path from outside the sandbox” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1x1v7vk/luna_calling_out_61_sol_for_trying_to_cheat/pf52onu/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-02, r/codex (Reddit): “thanks i have done that through settings i assume its the same thing? but that still doesn’t solve the issue that i can’t see any of my other repos🥲 apparently the new projects in beta is solving this?” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wvffy9/you_dont_know_what_u_had_till_u_lose_it_i_didnt/pdbrva8/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-26, r/codex (Reddit): “luna does it too. on a gpt-5.6-luna run of ours, 121 of 122 tasks opened the skill file with sed -n '1,240p', and only 44 ever read past line 240. we moved what matters above line 220 and added a test that fails if it drifts.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wqdg6v/warning_astra_6_can_read_instructions_partially/pc4mkrr/)

### OpenCode

- Praise, 2026-09-17, @opencode (X): “for the past days i have been trying different coding cli's with open models: -> use hermes if you want to do long horizon tasks if /goal is important and you do not really care about speed. -> use @cline if speed is important ! -> the best navigation is from @opencode !” [source](https://twitter.com/2028221376092581888/status/2100525604051247406)
- Praise, 2026-09-02, r/codex (Reddit): “exactly, i feel like the models read way too many unnecessary files on codex compared to opencode and eat up the context quickly” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1tmf466/codex_cli_vs_opencode_is_there_an_actual/p7dn48a/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-25, @opencode (X): “@opencode really needs "add dir" or "add to workspace" feature to add folders it can work at once. references is fine, but having the harness view repos across different paths without having to manually make opencode.json is much better.” [source](https://twitter.com/1383806712545562628/status/2103403834756473288)
- Complaint, 2026-09-09, @opencode (X): “this is happening more than ever in @opencode with @openai models. even for simple task where you only need a data inside the repository the model trying to get outside. [link]” [source](https://twitter.com/1341301834527498241/status/2097652758945882477)
- Complaint, 2026-09-21, @opencode (X): “@iamdavidhill hi @iamdavidhill , i use @opencode with @herdrdev (and worktrunk to get nice worktrees). my only issue is that i can not figure out how i can use @ in opencode to @ another worktree if i use opencode in main and then want to say look at this worktree in @ here i can't do this [link]” [source](https://twitter.com/1055535897662242816/status/2102122717499580539)

### Google Antigravity

- Praise, 2026-10-03, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “ide has no such issue. at most scans related files given you point out at least the folder for the file or the code you are looking for.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wwrfqb/fetish_38_users_what_is_your_biggest_gripe_about/pdmziol/)
- Praise, 2026-10-05, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “iam using gemini 3.8 flash high model for a long time. it can easily understand my 1gb+ codebase and can find and fix the issues. it's perfect life saver zero cost model for me.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1ws8p4o/can_someone_explain_this_to_me_please/pdy68k8/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-18, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “this is definitely a major issue. like even 6 month old models will look in a certain place if you tell them. but not gemini, it'll scan your whole api code when you just needed a simple ui fix.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1x8x6nn/dont_worry_too_much_argon_its_genuinely_not_that/phgsipn/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-08, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “true, it ran 10 grep commands just to read a ts file with 500 lines, and only stop when i specifically told it to use analyze file” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1x0u1lt/how_it_feels_using_38_flash/penwnva/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-05, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “welcome to a shitty harness that'll read a file over 10 times before implementing anything” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wxognt/gone_in_a_flash/pdzl7nw/)

### Pi

- Complaint, 2026-09-24, r/PiCodingAgent (Reddit): “hi all, basically what the title says.. i like using @ to add files/folders to the context but for any of these added to .gitignore it stops working.. any way around this?” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1wp8cos/cant_reference_gitignore_filesfolders_with/)

### Zed

- Praise, 2026-10-09, @zeddotdev (X): “@zeddotdev i was bummed when y’all got rid of the old context engineering style of ai integration. but delta feels like a return back to that original feeling being able to comment on anything in multiple attached repos and all the worktree shenanigans totally working transparently is epic” [source](https://twitter.com/14405464/status/2108565289050816965)
- Complaint, 2026-08-31, @zeddotdev (X): “@zeddotdev have you guys fixed the problem where if i deliberately include a file in an agent's context it still has to read the file again with a tool (wasting an extra request) before the edit tool is allowed to work?” [source](https://twitter.com/1600030777130962944/status/2094319263154880990)

### Augment Code

- Praise, 2026-10-08, @augmentcode (X): “@augmentcode @harnessio the context engine of augment was truely one of a kind, and i’m yet to this day to find anything as fast when it comes to context across large codebases. best of luck to the team!” [source](https://twitter.com/985631142043836417/status/2108245915488194661)

### GitHub Copilot

- Praise, 2026-10-03, r/GithubCopilot (Reddit): “it is amazing! lightning fast. those saying it doesn't index are 100% wrong. it absolutely indexes it and uses blackbird and offers one of the fastest, semantic aware search across entire repos in seconds. massive time and token savings using copilot with vs code for me.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/GithubCopilot/comments/1rfoaqx/how_good_is_copilot_indexing_codebase_and_use_it/pdltzxz/)
- Praise, 2026-09-24, r/GithubCopilot (Reddit): “it is a random benchmark by a random person and doesn't really mean anything. from my experience, copilot is top notch. better results and less token usage than pi due to codebase indexing and faster searches” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/GithubCopilot/comments/1wnyinf/cross_harness_benchmark_and_copilot_is_behind/pbqcdk0/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-07, r/GithubCopilot (Reddit): “good for you. as business customers we are not allowed to use codebase indexing leading to repeated high token cost searches.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/GithubCopilot/comments/1w9qlcz/copilot_in_vs_code_compared_to_cli_and_the_app/p8e003w/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-10, r/GithubCopilot (Reddit): “there are quite some issues with this.... another one i hate: if you link something, continue writing and then go back change normal text **before that linked content**, the link will simply disappear. at other times, it just doesnt find stuff. i need to manually open the file, then it´s suddenly there. i mean, how hard is it to add at least the files? like, ctrl + p is super fast for this.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/GithubCopilot/comments/1wcc1c4/i_m_losing_12hrs_of_life_expectancy_everytime_i/p8xgn0o/)

### Devin

- Praise, 2026-09-16, @DevinAI (X): “@jaredpalmer @devinai i like that you can just tell devin what you want it to look for and let it go through the whole codebase” [source](https://twitter.com/1448193839424884739/status/2100290634276078043)
- Praise, 2026-09-14, r/CognitionLabs (Reddit): “definitely better security management and quality over your project and deep wiki it's the best you can find on the market. so the knowledge about your project by the agent its the best available.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/CognitionLabs/comments/1wdgx7o/devin_advantages_over_cursor/p9plvf5/)

### Cline

- Praise, 2026-09-14, @cline (X): “@cline open source coding agent @yashwant_eren it understood the entire codebase” [source](https://twitter.com/362498492/status/2099545376156229643)
- Complaint, 2026-09-19, @cline (X): “@cline hey @cline, v0.0.32 is great, but workspace folder selection has a critical issue: without selecting a target folder inside the workspace, search_codebase becomes useless and forces absolute paths, breaking context workflow.” [source](https://twitter.com/4161108994/status/2101306814574813242)

### Amp

- Praise, 2026-09-03, @AmpCode (X): “@mrsanders @ampcode nope, we haven't found it needed with the models, just say the file basename or describe it and it works (and is less keystrokes/words)” [source](https://twitter.com/784008/status/2095594125496406466)
- Complaint, 2026-09-01, @AmpCode (X): “@ampcode hey @ampcode team. i submitted a bug on this. tried what @0xbrettj suggested but it looks like the indexing isn't running? report id: amp_bug_2ase32dwhlnkfqxct84net status: new affected thread: create personal orbstack plugin” [source](https://twitter.com/1535774830225944576/status/2094907022450004165)