{
  "notice": "Please credit \"Is software solved?\" and the sources listed in credits when you reuse these numbers. They are our own aggregates. For original records, go to each source.",
  "id": "coding-agents",
  "name": "Coding agent tokens",
  "question": "Are coding agents doing more work?",
  "metric": "Tokens used by the coding apps OpenRouter ranks, latest full month",
  "solvedIf": "Coding agents do most of the work",
  "value": "205T",
  "change": "+3179%",
  "trend": [
    {
      "label": "2025-01",
      "value": 0.9
    },
    {
      "label": "2025-02",
      "value": 1.3
    },
    {
      "label": "2025-03",
      "value": 2.2
    },
    {
      "label": "2025-04",
      "value": 3
    },
    {
      "label": "2025-05",
      "value": 2.3
    },
    {
      "label": "2025-06",
      "value": 2
    },
    {
      "label": "2025-07",
      "value": 2.5
    },
    {
      "label": "2025-08",
      "value": 4.2
    },
    {
      "label": "2025-09",
      "value": 6.8
    },
    {
      "label": "2025-10",
      "value": 6.2
    },
    {
      "label": "2025-11",
      "value": 7
    },
    {
      "label": "2025-12",
      "value": 4.3
    },
    {
      "label": "2026-01",
      "value": 4.5
    },
    {
      "label": "2026-02",
      "value": 13.4
    },
    {
      "label": "2026-03",
      "value": 29.9
    },
    {
      "label": "2026-04",
      "value": 30.8
    },
    {
      "label": "2026-05",
      "value": 28
    },
    {
      "label": "2026-06",
      "value": 47.5
    },
    {
      "label": "2026-07",
      "value": 60
    },
    {
      "label": "2026-08",
      "value": 101.3
    },
    {
      "label": "2026-09",
      "value": 143
    },
    {
      "label": "2026-10",
      "value": 204.6
    }
  ],
  "trendLabel": "Tokens used by ranked coding apps on OpenRouter per month, in trillions.",
  "caution": [
    "Tools like Cursor and direct use of AI labs may not appear here, so this undercounts agent use.",
    "The list of ranked apps grew over time, and more tokens can mean less efficient work rather than more of it."
  ],
  "score": 79,
  "scoreReason": "227 times the tokens of January 2025, against a goal of 1,000 times.",
  "analysis": {
    "title": "Most used coding apps",
    "intro": "The top five of 2026-10.",
    "points": [
      "Hermes Agent: 55T.",
      "Claude Code: 46T.",
      "Kilo Code: 26T.",
      "Codex: 15T.",
      "Cline: 14T."
    ]
  },
  "fromHigh": "At its high",
  "status": "Growing",
  "rule": "Growing when ranked coding apps use more tokens than in the same month a year before.",
  "direction": "toward",
  "checks": [
    {
      "date": "2026-11-02",
      "value": "205T",
      "change": "+3179%",
      "status": "Growing"
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-11-01",
      "value": "205T",
      "change": "+3179%",
      "status": "Growing"
    }
  ],
  "url": "/signals/coding-agents",
  "api": "/api/signals/coding-agents.json",
  "credits": []
}