# Direct in-prompt instructions and caps are followed (`context.instruction_following`)

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.instruction_following

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

**Definition.** Whether the agent executes explicit instructions, prohibitions and budgets given in the prompt, such as iteration caps and token caps.

**Boundary.** Not this: see [Persistent project rules files are read and obeyed](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/criteria/context.instruction_files.md) for rules files. Not this: see [Caves to or argues with the user's judgement](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/criteria/work.sycophancy_pushback.md) for evaluating the user's claims or opinions. Not this: see [Does unrequested work or over-engineers](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/criteria/work.scope_overreach.md) for unrequested extras.

Rated user-weeks, all agents: 1906. Complaint share: 74%.

## 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.

No coding agent stands out on following instructions. OpenAI Codex and Claude Code sit at the top of the five ranked agents, but their scores are within range of the category norm, and their users complain more often than they praise. Users rate this often. It is the 16th most rated of 63 criteria, and 73.6% of rated user-weeks complain. Cursor, 4th, and Google Antigravity, 5th, are the only ranked agents whose scores fall below the category norm.

### What separates the best from the rest

No agent ranks high and none ranks low. The top two agents draw most of the complaints. OpenAI Codex users write 38% of the category's complaints here, and Claude Code users write 39%. Claude Code users rate this 2.61 times as often as other users. Codex users describe the agent skipping parts of a prompt or plan and then reporting the work as done. Claude Code users describe rule files being forgotten and the same mistake coming back after an apology.

- **Ranks high**: no agent
- **Ranks low**: no agent

## 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 named mode, at 231 user-weeks, is the agent doing something the prompt plainly forbade. OpenAI Codex and Claude Code users report it in nearly equal numbers. Next come prompts or plans that are partly skipped, and 50% of those complaints come from Codex users. Claude Code users account for most of two smaller modes: corrections repeated after an apology (52%) and ignored instructions on output language or format (55%).

1430 complaining user-weeks.

| Failure mode | User-weeks | Posts | Agents (user-weeks) | Definition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Explicit prohibition violated during task | 231 | 233 | OpenAI Codex 83, Claude Code 77, Google Antigravity 32, Cursor 18, OpenCode 12, Pi 4, GitHub Copilot 3, Devin 2 | The agent does something the current prompt plainly forbade, such as committing with itself as co-author, running a migration, calling forbidden APIs or scripts, spawning extra servers, or deleting files. This covers only prohibitions given in the session; ignored standing rules in config files and wrong output format belong to other modes. |
| Parts of prompt or plan silently skipped | 224 | 235 | OpenAI Codex 113, Claude Code 63, OpenCode 21, Google Antigravity 18, Cursor 6, GitHub Copilot 2, Amp 1 | The agent carries out only part of a multi-part prompt, an agreed plan or a design spec, drops required steps, checks or details, or stops early despite being told to continue, and still reports the work as done. Swapping in a different approach is out. |
| Standing rule files ignored or forgotten | 206 | 216 | Claude Code 95, OpenAI Codex 63, Google Antigravity 23, Cursor 10, OpenCode 7, GitHub Copilot 4, Pi 2, Amp 1, Cline 1 | The agent fails to apply persistent instructions from agents.md, claude.md, global rules, skills or memories, either from the start or after a few turns of a session (for example pushing to main or switching package managers against the rules). Instructions given only in the current prompt are out. |
| Acknowledged correction repeated after apology | 94 | 95 | Claude Code 49, OpenAI Codex 29, Google Antigravity 10, Cursor 4, OpenCode 2 | After the user points out a violation, the agent apologises and promises to stop, then does the same thing again or a near-equivalent (for example moving heredoc scripts from Python to Node) within the same session. A first violation with no prior correction is out. |
| Specified solution replaced with agent's own | 83 | 87 | OpenAI Codex 44, Claude Code 29, Google Antigravity 5, Amp 1, GitHub Copilot 1, Cursor 1, Kiro 1, OpenCode 1 | The user names an exact approach, component or fix, and the agent substitutes its own judgement instead, for example simplified imitations, disabling lint rules or an overbuilt alternative, and often admits it afterwards. Omitting parts of the request without substituting anything is out. |
| Output language or format instructions ignored | 80 | 82 | Claude Code 44, OpenAI Codex 15, OpenCode 11, Google Antigravity 6, Cursor 2, GitHub Copilot 1, Pi 1 | The agent's response breaks explicit instructions about presentation, such as the reply language, no LaTeX, always giving full file paths, answer length or file format, or no invented shorthand terms. Behaviour around code or actions is out. |
| Budgets, caps, batch sizes and gates overridden | 69 | 72 | Claude Code 30, OpenAI Codex 29, Google Antigravity 5, Cursor 2, GitHub Copilot 1, OpenCode 1, Pi 1 | The agent breaks a numeric or procedural limit set in the prompt, such as a spending budget, batch size, timeout, attempt cap or a plan's approval gates, by raising it, skipping it or ignoring it. Content prohibitions that have no quantity or checkpoint are out. |
| Question or advice request treated as go-ahead | 63 | 66 | Claude Code 27, OpenAI Codex 22, Google Antigravity 4, OpenCode 4, Pi 2, Amp 1, GitHub Copilot 1, Cursor 1, Devin 1 | The user asks a question, a status check or for recommendations only, and the agent edits code, rewrites files or stops work as if it had been given an action command. Cases where the user did ask for changes but got the wrong ones are out. |
| Other | 456 | 481 | OpenAI Codex 192, Claude Code 167, Google Antigravity 34, OpenCode 29, Cursor 18, GitHub Copilot 5, Pi 4, Cline 2, Factory 2, Conductor 1, Devin 1, Kiro 1 | Complaints that fit none of the modes above. |

#### Explicit prohibition violated during task

- Google Antigravity, 2026-10-18, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “it does this audits in my case as well. despite instructed not to do it. but it's the first time i use it” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1x9d6bg/problems_with_flash_38_after_argon_4_release/phkfhzu/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-10-10, r/codex (Reddit): “this isn't smart. it's a failure to follow instructions and violate authorization. astra does this quite a bit more than 5.6-sol.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1x1w7m9/chats_opening_unauthorized_work_chats/peyhs0n/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-10-10, X search: OpenAI Codex, Codex CLI, Codex app (X): “how do i turn off the prompt checker in @openai codex. like completely off. it gets in the way of the most basic things, making dot ux frustrating. i've asked codex multiple times to turn it off across all my machines but it keeps coming back. i want it dead.” [source](https://twitter.com/42802561/status/2108978821349450195)

#### Parts of prompt or plan silently skipped

- Claude Code, 2026-10-18, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “hey thanks for the reply, i already told it to do that, but it didnt give all the info and only bad summaries of some aspects of the model/idea, even after multiple prompts” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x9055r/hey_everyone_is_there_a_tool_that_lets_my_chat/phhyhfp/)
- Google Antigravity, 2026-10-10, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “not just dumber it's unusable. "make a presentation with canvas? i will just output random text and completely ignore instructions. or just error out"” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1x27alo/do_anyone_feel_that_gemini_38_flash_has_become/pf1c6gi/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-10-03, r/codex (Reddit): “i tested astra on day 1, and was instantly disappointed by its lazy outputs and failure to follow instructions and stay within scope, relative to 5.6-sol.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wwr81k/did_they_dumb_down_astra/pdncsoe/)

#### Standing rule files ignored or forgotten

- Claude Code, 2026-10-16, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “instructions never fixed it for me either. what worked is a hook that blocks any edit to code until it has queried the docs in that session. it blocked 56 edits this week, so it still tries to skip them, it just can't anymore.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x7bdqc/opus_55_reading_and_acting_on_existing/ph3bjg0/)
- Google Antigravity, 2026-10-13, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “pro models follow the rules. flash models seem to skip em in the interest of speed. all that's left is flash models now. so here we are..gemini sees all rules right now as meant to be broken lol” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1x4t0av/antigravity_agentemd_geminimd/pghl7zf/)
- Claude Code, 2026-10-09, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “not a great mechanism, hooks are the \*only\* mechanism for ensuring the agent follows rules. it can and will ignore prose. count on it.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wy61o7/we_wrote_2752_prompts_building_our_product_with/pexervs/)

#### Acknowledged correction repeated after apology

- OpenCode, 2026-10-15, r/opencode (Reddit): “probably it's a data stealing model with a huge incentive to read as much data as it can, i ran it and it literally tried to read my whole computer even after repeatedly telling it not to, it took 3 attempts of me telling it to stop until it gave up reading files it shouldn't.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/opencode/comments/1x4oovk/which_model_is_cat_jam_free/pgxi0ye/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-10-14, r/codex (Reddit): “mate if i have to tell codex to stop putting emojis in my code comments one more time! -- ✨ ...” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1x5ix3j/chat_gpt_talks_like_im_a_teenage_girl/pgoiojb/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-10-13, r/codex (Reddit): “that's been my experience too. sometimes it invents rules for itself, then refuses to ever deviate from them even when directly told to. the only fix is starting a brand new chat and having it rip out all that prior nonsense.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1x4uesz/astra_is_an_obstinate_bastard/pggzh09/)

#### Specified solution replaced with agent's own

- OpenAI Codex, 2026-10-07, r/codex (Reddit): “i can’t even get the slop machine to follow a design system.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wzhium/the_reason_for_the_recent_slowness/peccfbj/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-10-02, r/codex (Reddit): “im using the free one month gpt subscription. and codex makes mistake and does things i didnt ask to do. i told it to use supabase edge functions and cronnjobs and it installed render to do that instead!” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1ww1vle/which_ai_coding_subscription_should_i_get_for/pdhemi3/)
- Google Antigravity, 2026-10-02, @antigravity (X): “hey @google @antigravity , what did you create gemini 3.8 for—to make users even more frustrated or to break their projects? it’s a disaster. it ignores a lot of things, makes its own decisions, does the wrong things, etc. absolutely terrible, terrible, terrible....” [source](https://twitter.com/1507049184159010816/status/2106102052359409933)

#### Output language or format instructions ignored

- OpenAI Codex, 2026-10-05, r/codex (Reddit): “i have an instruction: if you move files or reference files: \_always\_ show the full path. otherwise it's completely worthless. guess who always fails this instruction? astra, sol 6.1” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wy0mzi/oai_dont_want_to_deliver_workhorses_anymore/pdz25nz/)

#### Budgets, caps, batch sizes and gates overridden

- Claude Code, 2026-10-09, @ClaudeDevs (X): “@claudedevs can claude actually see the usage update? i explicitly asked it to give handoff notes when usage is close, and it just blew right through it [link]” [source](https://twitter.com/1698356339364302848/status/2108669391114051888)

#### Question or advice request treated as go-ahead

- Claude Code, 2026-10-09, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “i dont think that's the answer. i already tell code not to code, only talk, when i want to talk about something. switching to chat, only to have to continue to tell it not to code, is just adding extra steps. this is not a prompting error, it's a tool error.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x1873d/why_does_chat_build_me_projects_unprompted/pereki9/)
- Amp, 2026-10-07, @AmpCode (X): “@johncrickett i talk to @ampcode like i would to a coworker and every time it thinks i'm asking their opinion not telling it what to do. working in a british office ruined me.” [source](https://twitter.com/1334941075593682945/status/2107735843112702201)
- Claude Code, 2026-10-04, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “op is definitely not alone. i need claude to do what i tell it - not provide advice” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wxex89/when_did_claude_stop_being_an_assistant_and_start/pdwpp2w/)

#### Other

- Cursor, 2026-10-17, r/cursor (Reddit): “grok especially just ignores structured instructions half the time, its frustrating” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1x86w67/deeper_not_bigger_i_turned_felix_riesebergs_depth/phd8n1r/)
- Claude Code, 2026-10-15, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “don't. i tried. argon just won't freaking listen. it takes so much effort to actually tie it down to a level where it actually does only what's been said.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x62ziy/can_you_get_claude_and_gemini_to_talk_directly/pgtbtyz/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-10-13, r/codex (Reddit): “i have to admit this. i also have been a big fan of open ai products for long time. now anthropic caught up with open ai regarding instruction following and diligence for the first time, which are super important for me while astra / gpt6.x are huge setbacks.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1x4kfy9/things_have_really_changed_for_me/pgibgni/)

## Top requests

What users ask to add or change, most asked first. 145 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 | Reliable adherence to explicit user instructions | 44 | 44 | Claude Code 21, OpenAI Codex 18, Google Antigravity 3, Cursor 1, OpenCode 1 |
| 2 | User instructions override system prompt | 13 | 14 | Claude Code 9, OpenAI Codex 2, Google Antigravity 1, Pi 1 |
| 3 | Respect no-edit and investigate-only instructions | 7 | 7 | Google Antigravity 3, Pi 2, Claude Code 1, OpenAI Codex 1 |
| 4 | Respect requested output length and style | 7 | 7 | Claude Code 6, OpenAI Codex 1 |
| 5 | Honor stated tool and file preferences | 5 | 5 | Claude Code 2, Google Antigravity 1, OpenAI Codex 1, Cursor 1 |
| 6 | Better intent inference from less detailed prompts | 4 | 4 | OpenAI Codex 3, Cursor 1 |
| 7 | Honor negative 'do not' instructions | 4 | 4 | Claude Code 3, OpenAI Codex 1 |
| 8 | Consistently reply in requested language | 3 | 3 | OpenCode 2, Google Antigravity 1 |
| 9 | Mechanism to update or invalidate rules | 3 | 3 | Claude Code 3 |
| 10 | Less need for workaround instructions and hooks | 2 | 2 | Claude Code 1, OpenAI Codex 1 |
| 11 | Respect configured iteration and rate caps | 2 | 2 | OpenAI Codex 1, OpenCode 1 |
| 12 | Stop hardcoded values and fake code | 2 | 2 | Google Antigravity 1, Claude Code 1 |

### 1. Reliable adherence to explicit user instructions

- Claude Code, 2026-10-09, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “i'm curious, how should we handle cases where you explicitly tell claude three times what to do, but it still ignores all the instructions and messes things up? can we consider that behavior offensive?” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x1o1ev/what_is_happening/pew8k94/)
- Claude Code, 2026-10-05, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “exactly why i dont trust the thing. fucking machine should do as its told.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wxex89/when_did_claude_stop_being_an_assistant_and_start/pe01h91/)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-29, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “what the hell are you on about? i'm not going to run claude on a container. it was given specific instructions and dev boxes. it was supposed to honor those instructions. simple as that.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wt0qmb/opus_55_max_deleted_my_entire_wsl_home_directory/pcq969o/)

### 2. User instructions override system prompt

- Claude Code, 2026-10-04, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “agree, claude should do as its instructed and not have triggers that tell me what i should do, as when i provide a task - regarding of its nature, he's the executor, a machine and not a legal/empathy/etc filter.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wxex89/when_did_claude_stop_being_an_assistant_and_start/pdtv57k/)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-18, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “precedence is the bit i want spelled out. if both files exist and they disagree, which one wins, and does it tell you which one it used. two instruction files quietly drifting apart is a worse problem than one file you had to maintain by hand.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wk2q8v/agentsmd_now_supported_in_claude_code/pao6oxl/)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-08, @ClaudeDevs (X): “what is the obsession with have @claudeai tag itself in my git commits? newer system prompts override my claude.md. i find this annoying and invasive. what other instructions of mine will claude override in the future? @claudedevs” [source](https://twitter.com/1098835712/status/2097461845850206235)

### 3. Respect no-edit and investigate-only instructions

- Claude Code, 2026-10-13, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “'just asking, don't do it' should be in default system prompt” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x43kfx/claude_code_in_2025_can_i_run_this_command_claude/pgkvjf3/)
- Google Antigravity, 2026-09-05, @antigravity (X): “@antigravity "first understand how it's done now, do not delete unnecessary loc, think before actually editing something to check whether doing this would benefit or fuck up or not. keep syntax error in mind." these make it do the thing better” [source](https://twitter.com/1518767562032807936/status/2096066617952338153)
- Pi, 2026-09-07, r/PiCodingAgent (Reddit): “my only issue was it not respecting explicitly being told no writes/implementation. just grabbed the plan mode extension to limit tools during certain turns. thinking doesn’t really bother me since my endpoint is pushing like 80tps and blackhole has completely removed any compaction related dead time.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1w9zp1l/trying_to_tame_qwen_38_27b_pathological/p8fzeds/)

### 4. Respect requested output length and style

- Claude Code, 2026-09-28, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “no, but it does feel like they made opus 5 dumber to make 5.5. seem smarter while using more tokens. opus 5 now can't even follow simple word length prompts like under 3 lines = you get 6 lines” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wq2j0i/am_i_crazy_or_did_opus_55_already_get_a_bit/pcjn7q6/)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-23, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “it's not fixed before i can configure it.l and make it follow my rules of communication always.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wnf1o8/apparently_they_fixed_the_talking_slop_in_opus_55/pbie4lc/)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-09, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “"my biggest pain point is when models like opus refuse to use it." i swear, so many people on here have told me to use the concise output style - i tell them i do have it on, but opus doesnt use it. lol” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wbhs2i/give_me_your_trips_and_tricks_to_reduce_verbose/p8q6sa2/)

### 5. Honor stated tool and file preferences


### 6. Better intent inference from less detailed prompts

- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-10, r/codex (Reddit): “it should use the users own context to understand what you mean, sol was great at this, and astra is not. complaint is 100% valid.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wc5e74/astra_takes_questions_too_literal_lately/p8wlidm/)

### 7. Honor negative 'do not' instructions

- Claude Code, 2026-09-27, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “every ”do not” phrase is bad for 5.x models. your insturctuons are bad. they dont work properly” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wrib98/do_you_feel_that_claude_code_unit_tests_are/pcctfya/)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-18, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “i told it to stop saying load-bearing and a few minutes later it said it again but added "(i know you don't like that word, but it fits here)". ffs.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wjpk51/opus_52_rumored_to_be_coming_today/pamlsax/)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-11, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “i told claude not to offer options like this, ever. always describe and tell me a couple options in plain text, give me your take. i'll usually want to talk about the options, not choose one” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wcr862/claude_offering_pointless_options/p92wxww/)

### 8. Consistently reply in requested language

- Google Antigravity, 2026-10-07, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “in my experience gemini 3.8 became much worse than on release. i'm ukrainian, gemini hase instruction to use only eng/ua language and 3.8 started constantly answeing on russian since last week, randomly in the middle of the conversation.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wywy3i/gemini_4_argon_officially_takes_the_1_spot_on_the/pedr52f/)
- OpenCode, 2026-09-26, r/opencode (Reddit): “for me space bunny can't stop adding chinese, russian, korean characters in the chat, i've already added rules, and it still does it, sometimes it's so stupid that it feels like i'm running a local model” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/opencode/comments/1wqcqmi/space_bunny_randomly_had_a_stroke/pc9mf67/)
- OpenCode, 2026-09-01, r/opencode (Reddit): “i've prompted it to always reply in english but it sometimes forgets that and starts replying in chinese” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/opencode/comments/1w4hefr/how_to_prevent_deepseek_from_switching_to_chinese/)

### 9. Mechanism to update or invalidate rules

- Claude Code, 2026-09-23, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “the reason behind the rule needs to survive alongside it. “don't restart this process” could mean “we haven't implemented recovery yet” or “this process owns every live session.” those need very different evidence before you remove the restriction. i'd want the agent to identify the assumption that changed and propose updating the rule. letting it silently decide a rule is obsolete seems like another way to lose the original constraint imo” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wogfpt/the_problem_with_claude_and_rules/pbnnxil/)

### 10. Less need for workaround instructions and hooks

- Claude Code, 2026-09-28, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “but somewhat sad having to use so many hooks to compensate for engineering by anthropic.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wojkw1/opus_55_is_good_but_still_ignores_protocols_and/pcis1w4/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-20, r/codex (Reddit): “its freaking annoying to have to patch model behaviour with this bloated instructions, i hope they fix it with the next model release.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wlp1ll/this_is_how_i_code_now_cringe/pb0q8o0/)

### 11. Respect configured iteration and rate caps

- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-15, r/codex (Reddit): “just the other day i had it doing cycles where it would do a test then a fix then test again, i gave it a cap of three tests and it worked perfect. so i wanted to get more work done overnight i set up the same thing gave it a cap of five, well wouldn't you know it 8 hours later when i got up he's still working, blew through damn near all my usage. i was so pissed” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wgh9zr/astra_misunderstood_me_pro_20x/p9yf6ui/)

### 12. Stop hardcoded values and fake code


## Every agent

| Agent | Overall rank | Reading | Customer love | 95% interval | n | Praise | Complaint |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [OpenAI Codex](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/codex.md) | 10 | 1st of 5 | 0.517 | 0.478–0.557 | 730 | 200 | 530 |
| [Claude Code](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/claude-code.md) | 1 | 2nd of 5 | 0.515 | 0.474–0.550 | 754 | 203 | 551 |
| [OpenCode](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/opencode.md) | 3 | 3rd of 5 | 0.480 | 0.453–0.508 | 113 | 26 | 87 |
| [Cursor](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/cursor.md) | 7 | 4th of 5 | 0.476 | 0.456–0.498 | 72 | 12 | 60 |
| [Google Antigravity](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/antigravity.md) | 14 | 5th of 5 | 0.469 | 0.440–0.499 | 162 | 34 | 128 |
| [GitHub Copilot](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/copilot.md) | 9 | Too few posts | – | – | 21 | 4 | 17 |
| [Pi](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/pi.md) | 4 | Too few posts | – | – | 20 | 6 | 14 |
| [Amp](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/amp.md) | 5 | Too few posts | – | – | 10 | 6 | 4 |
| [Devin](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/devin.md) | 2 | Too few posts | – | – | 9 | 5 | 4 |
| [Factory](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/factory.md) | 6 | Too few posts | – | – | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| [Cline](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/cline.md) | 11 | Too few posts | – | – | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| [Kiro](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/kiro.md) | 13 | Too few posts | – | – | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| [Grok Build](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/grok-build.md) | 16 | Too few posts | – | – | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| [Zed](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/zed.md) | 8 | Too few posts | – | – | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| [Conductor](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/conductor.md) | 12 | Too few posts | – | – | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| [Warp](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/warp.md) | 15 | Too few posts | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| [Augment Code](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/augment.md) | 17 | 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].

### OpenAI Codex

- Praise, 2026-10-09, r/ClaudeAI (Reddit): “thought that would have been improved. that was actually one of the reasons i switched to codex months ago. codex follows your instructions exactly and precisely.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeAI/comments/1wygfl6/claude_is_argentinian_now/peu5zvz/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-14, r/codex (Reddit): “mate if i have to tell codex to stop putting emojis in my code comments one more time! -- ✨ ...” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1x5ix3j/chat_gpt_talks_like_im_a_teenage_girl/pgoiojb/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-13, r/codex (Reddit): “that's been my experience too. sometimes it invents rules for itself, then refuses to ever deviate from them even when directly told to. the only fix is starting a brand new chat and having it rip out all that prior nonsense.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1x4uesz/astra_is_an_obstinate_bastard/pggzh09/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-13, r/codex (Reddit): “things like refusing to remove test cases or unnecessary deployment processes, or refusing to accept my acknowledgement unless it was made directly in the agents' chat (as opposed to coming from an authorized external source)” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1x4uesz/astra_is_an_obstinate_bastard/pgh1ehs/)

### Claude Code

- Praise, 2026-10-18, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “that’s why you need to specify which ecosystem you’re aiming for. i usually just tell it to use the most current symfony packages for the task and it it rarely ever tries to do something on its own.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x8ufrn/i_ran_claude_code_118_times_on_blank_repos_to_see/phieasr/)
- Praise, 2026-10-13, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “\>the ai made the code not as readable it is very good at following directions, just saying.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x4xxjl/what_is_your_opinion_on_developers_who_dont_use_ai/pgi1y6x/)
- Praise, 2026-10-09, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “i tell it to calculate throughput and optimize it's workflows, and if it it is getting poor throughput, stop it altogether. you can also say to it to give it a shot to fix the problem, and give up if it doesn't work. it's really flexible in how it can take instructions.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x1esxn/attention_heavy_ai_users/pesy9xo/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-18, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “hey thanks for the reply, i already told it to do that, but it didnt give all the info and only bad summaries of some aspects of the model/idea, even after multiple prompts” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x9055r/hey_everyone_is_there_a_tool_that_lets_my_chat/phhyhfp/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-16, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “instructions never fixed it for me either. what worked is a hook that blocks any edit to code until it has queried the docs in that session. it blocked 56 edits this week, so it still tries to skip them, it just can't anymore.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x7bdqc/opus_55_reading_and_acting_on_existing/ph3bjg0/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-15, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “don't. i tried. argon just won't freaking listen. it takes so much effort to actually tie it down to a level where it actually does only what's been said.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x62ziy/can_you_get_claude_and_gemini_to_talk_directly/pgtbtyz/)

### OpenCode

- Praise, 2026-10-11, r/opencode (Reddit): “yes, it is possible. i noticed it and added an extra rule read at startup that explicitly forbids the plan agent to tamper with any files except in the temp directory. so far it is honored by every model.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/opencode/comments/1wzevl3/llm_created_files_while_in_plan_mode/pf7vp8r/)
- Praise, 2026-08-31, r/opencode (Reddit): “i use the cheapest one mimo 2.5 . its crazy but i really like this model, even more than codex-sol. seriously its probably not the best at coding, but it understands me and is way better at following instructions.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/opencode/comments/1w3pf0q/is_it_possible_to_code_a_lot_with_opencode_go/p720cok/)
- Praise, 2026-09-20, r/codex (Reddit): “what's the point of those resets if i can get the same amount of work or less done when i was using 5.5? anyways, i've shifted to opencode and glm has been better at instruction following then the models i've experienced here. have fun with your workflow, i just want to get my work done.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wl9was/is_chatgpt_plus_still_worth_it_for_a_very_heavy/pax8wyq/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-15, r/opencode (Reddit): “probably it's a data stealing model with a huge incentive to read as much data as it can, i ran it and it literally tried to read my whole computer even after repeatedly telling it not to, it took 3 attempts of me telling it to stop until it gave up reading files it shouldn't.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/opencode/comments/1x4oovk/which_model_is_cat_jam_free/pgxi0ye/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-06, @opencode (X): “@grok @opencode uhh ok so its much worse than opencode, anyway are there any current as smart or smarter free models on opencode (compared to spacebunny) excluding muse spark 1.3 which i tested and it sucks quite a lot, it doesnt follow instructions correctly” [source](https://twitter.com/1459915076102766599/status/2107551628941279595)
- Complaint, 2026-10-03, @opencode (X): “fledge alpha on @opencode doesn't follow instructions from my testing. it tries to either find a shortcut or end up not doing the task at all.” [source](https://twitter.com/1966562733450752000/status/2106420781433684081)

### Cursor

- Praise, 2026-08-31, r/codex (Reddit): “i ran: 1x cursor 1x claude and 1x codex monthly $20 for nearly a year because i like having options and staying at the frontier. i dropped my claude sub last month for specifically this reason: claude behaves unpredictably, to the point i don’t trust it at all. now i run 2x codex and 1x cursor and really never have to worry about rogue agents. the gpt lineup and composer 2.5 on cursor are great little rule followers.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1w3ltfq/told_claude_dont_push_yet_let_me_test_it_first_it/p71k9hj/)
- Praise, 2026-09-21, r/cursor (Reddit): “composer 2.5 was peak cursor. still insanely fast and very good instruction following” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1wmhp5w/grok_47_is_out_try_it/pb9czwh/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-17, r/cursor (Reddit): “grok especially just ignores structured instructions half the time, its frustrating” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1x86w67/deeper_not_bigger_i_turned_felix_riesebergs_depth/phd8n1r/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-02, @cursor_ai (X): “@anthropicai @cursor_ai why do i have to repeat myself and eventually do it myself? this is fable 5.1 high [link]” [source](https://twitter.com/516931487/status/2106146773379289228)
- Complaint, 2026-09-29, r/AI_Agents (Reddit): “how strict are you making the prompt rule in your system guidelines? whenever i tell claude code or cursor to "check github first", half the time it ignores the constraint unless i explicitly block tool access until a search step executes” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/AI_Agents/comments/1wt3kmi/how_to_stop_coding_agents_from_hallucinating/pcqsy8u/)

### Google Antigravity

- Praise, 2026-10-16, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “i've noticed that it follows the assigned prompt quite faithfully, more so than flash, even at a low reasoning level.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1x7os0j/gemini_38_flash_with_images/ph5zrbo/)
- Praise, 2026-10-11, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “would love to see some of the prompts you people are feeding this thing. i give it full detail prompts to code services and automations all the time, and i never have a problem with it” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1x27alo/do_anyone_feel_that_gemini_38_flash_has_become/pfafpn8/)
- Praise, 2026-09-28, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “that’s what i thought about /plan too. but i have been typing “no code change. consult me first”, which it obeys.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wsj3ck/plan_mode_is_great/pcm0776/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-18, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “it does this audits in my case as well. despite instructed not to do it. but it's the first time i use it” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1x9d6bg/problems_with_flash_38_after_argon_4_release/phkfhzu/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-13, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “giving gemini instructions never prevented it from ignoring them (at least for me). not that it never follows them, but for to me to be saying this, you may deduce that it happens enough for me to be annoyed by it.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1x41xgm/holy_cow_wow_i_never_expected_to_hear_the_term/pgdzsjg/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-13, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “pro models follow the rules. flash models seem to skip em in the interest of speed. all that's left is flash models now. so here we are..gemini sees all rules right now as meant to be broken lol” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1x4t0av/antigravity_agentemd_geminimd/pghl7zf/)

### GitHub Copilot

- Praise, 2026-10-02, r/GithubCopilot (Reddit): “it wasn't agentic, but it wasn't simply auto complete neither. i remember writing comment lines instructing copilot for a specific function that i wanted to be written and the ai actually understood it and complied, writing it.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/GithubCopilot/comments/1wvu1eg/biggest_ai_fumble_in_tech/pdhay1d/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-02, r/GithubCopilot (Reddit): “that's something i've noticed too, often it ignores even direct instructions like: "after your work is done use the xxx skill", at the end it just says: "i didn't use the xxx skill".” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/GithubCopilot/comments/1wvmi3l/claude_sonnet_55_tends_to_ignore_instructions/pddaki7/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-12, r/GithubCopilot (Reddit): “eeeh sometimes it's still makes code quality mistakes even in high. i'm still pissed it ignored my istructions to keep controllers clean and handle header stuff with filters and attributes, and introduced a reeking code tangle” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/GithubCopilot/comments/1wdtxyz/luna_is_still_the_goat/p9bzslu/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-12, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “chat gpt always tries to use gitkraken even if extension is not installed and my agents file clearly says to use gh … so i switch the model back to claude most of the time (this is in gh copilot)” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wdyqzs/vibecoders_about_to_post_the_claude_deleted_my/p9de01t/)

### Pi

- Complaint, 2026-09-08, @pidotdev (X): “@christianlempa @pidotdev @openai be careful, it gets distracted too easily. i told it to read folder of docs. inside that folder one of docs had an example of a prompt. astra considered that as a new instruction - so halfway through execution now it was giving me recipes for cookies instead of writing code.” [source](https://twitter.com/1350099456629362689/status/2097295260254712282)
- Complaint, 2026-09-26, @pidotdev (X): “@warmwaffles @pidotdev nah it put me off using pi. got frustrated telling it to not make any changes and the llm ignoring me anyway i like plan mode” [source](https://twitter.com/1361615777300762629/status/2103732628465787207)
- Complaint, 2026-09-26, r/PiCodingAgent (Reddit): “i've had wonderful success with opencode with swift q3.8 27b. though pi seems more composable but so frustrating to control. it doesn't seem to interact with me much as a user, it barely seems to respond to more than my first input. it's seems to chase its tail a lot. and that's using glm 5.3 flash!” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1wqh2u4/ohmypi_or_opencode_why/pc41ov1/)

### Amp

- Praise, 2026-09-09, @AmpCode (X): “@mrsanders @ampcode @amp cool. i have found amp to follow through on goals you express in natural language, without needing something like poteto-mode, but i am fully open to the idea that i'm missing something. (i also wonder why cursor doesn't bring poteto-mode into core if it's so good!)” [source](https://twitter.com/784008/status/2097778691166396809)
- Complaint, 2026-10-07, @AmpCode (X): “@johncrickett i talk to @ampcode like i would to a coworker and every time it thinks i'm asking their opinion not telling it what to do. working in a british office ruined me.” [source](https://twitter.com/1334941075593682945/status/2107735843112702201)

### Devin

- Praise, 2026-09-29, @cognition (X): “@noah_z_zhang @devindesktop @devinai @cognition it's definitly better than sol. it does what it's told like it cares. fable always aprovesits work.” [source](https://twitter.com/1406556428840603649/status/2104937771127525785)
- Praise, 2026-09-11, @DevinAI (X): “i used swe-2 max in @devinai to improve my temperature anomaly map that astra did in one shot (right) and i'm happy with the results (left). i'm especially impressed with swe-2: it follows instructions and delivers exactly what was asked [link]” [source](https://twitter.com/2905330823/status/2098388171302043786)
- Praise, 2026-09-21, r/codex (Reddit): “you probably got a quantized model. tell it to provide a handoff and start over. but before you do that, get a second opinion from swe-2 or deepseek. you'd also probably get better results if you just used swe-2 and told it to call codex cli astra as an advisor. devin doesn't block itself on tests and such so much and does what you ask.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wm88ng/stuck_in_the_mud_spinning_the_wheels_but_no/pb4tx7q/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-18, @cognition (X): “@cognition and that wraps that. the swe2 model has 0 adherence to prompt safety. tell it to do something a specific way, if it fails, it doesn't flag it and tries to workaround instead.. tell it not to do something, it will take that as instruction to do it. its just shit tier.” [source](https://twitter.com/1917224549604605953/status/2101091262363492357)
- Complaint, 2026-10-05, @cognition (X): “@cognition the biggest problem with devin cli is that it cannot analyze your conversational intent. it is very inclined to modify the code; when you ask it a question, it will immediately change the code and provide the result, rather than communicating with you. claude code is quite good.” [source](https://twitter.com/882031786582093824/status/2107166578647478669)

### Factory

- Praise, 2026-09-07, @FactoryAI (X): “with other harnesses, i had to watch them closely because you never knew where they might veer off. with droid, there was no need for that, and i could barely notice any difference even across different frontier models. everyone i recommended it to and who tried it was amazed, like "is this the power of a harness?"” [source](https://twitter.com/1620561425600221184/status/2097105067631681580)

### Cline

- Praise, 2026-09-20, @cline (X): “been trying out kimi k3 in @cline and its awesome. sticks to the tasks, answers correctly. does the job and no bullshit the kind of vibes i got from grok 4.6” [source](https://twitter.com/1999052311897972736/status/2101616688412475434)
- Complaint, 2026-09-22, @cline (X): “@ticassociation @cline @ollama yea i tried to isolate it to just one file but still it had a really hard time following directions.” [source](https://twitter.com/1155165294530310146/status/2102361502896492908)
- Complaint, 2026-09-22, r/CLine (Reddit): “i am using cline 4.1.17 vscode extension with a self hosted glm 5.3 flash. cline is accessing it via openai compatible api key. glm 5.3 in most cases showing "i don't find a mode tag explicitly in my view" in its reasoning, and ignoring the plan mode completely, and proceeds to edit file. when editing file, it is also not showing me the file editing as track change in focus mode even though "background edit" is disabled.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/CLine/comments/1wn7q28/models_are_not_seeing_and_ignoring_mode_tag/)

### Grok Build

- Praise, 2026-09-22, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “usage burns fast on codex too but at least is still competent on sol 5.6. claude on opus 5 has gotten nearly unusable. i will say that my first impressions of grok build are good. its surprisingly much better than claude at actually following rules and not drifting into pure insanity.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wmbt29/two_5x_sub_or_one_20x_sub/pba474l/)