Getting Started with AI Coding Assistants: Google Antigravity, Anthropic Claude Code, and OpenAI Codex

Although many people have tried AI chat apps such as Doubao and Qianwen, a large information gap remains about the most powerful AI tools for software development. This article closes that gap by introducing the three most representative "agentic coding" platforms: Google Antigravity, Anthropic Claude Code, and OpenAI Codex.

Google Antigravity

Released in November 2025, Antigravity is positioned as an agent‑first development platform . It provides a full‑desktop IDE built on a heavily modified VS Code, but the core workflow is to command multiple AI agents rather than write code manually.

Multiple model choices, including the generous Gemini 3.1 Pro quota.

Agent Manager that can run several agents in parallel—one for front‑end code, another for back‑end APIs, and even agents that browse the web or test webpages.

Browser‑control capability via sub‑agents that issue automated web‑page actions.

Support for verifiable artifacts: generated code, plans, and execution results are traceable with versioning and comment mechanisms.

Low entry barrier and high cost‑performance, especially for individual developers, startups, and students.

Workflow starts with a planning mode to discuss the solution, then automatically generates an implementation plan and switches to a fast mode for execution. Screenshots can be used to interact with the model for precise visual adjustments.

Anthropic Claude Code

Claude Code is a command‑line tool that Anthropic describes as the most capable AI software engineer among the three.

Reads the entire project folder to understand structure.

Accepts natural‑language commands.

Many teams enable an “auto‑accept mode” so the tool iteratively refactors until the code runs.

Powered by Claude 4.6 Sonnet/Opus, giving it among the strongest code quality and long‑context understanding.

Professional developers favor it; it also integrates with Playwright CLI for visual‑interface tasks.

OpenAI Codex

OpenAI upgraded Codex in early 2026 (based on GPT‑5.3‑Codex, now using version 5.4) and transformed it from a browser/plugin into a standalone desktop application (Mac first, Windows and Android forthcoming).

Conversational experience that feels like working with a human colleague—you can interrupt, change requirements, or ask for explanations.

Supports long‑running tasks that combine research, tool use, and multi‑turn execution, making it suitable for building complete features rather than small edits.

Deep integration with the ChatGPT ecosystem, CLI, VS Code extension, and the independent app across platforms.

Antigravity is distributed as an app, making its onboarding smoother, while Claude Code and Codex require terminal installation.

Installation Steps

First prepare a Node.js environment:

# Download and install nvm:
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.4/install.sh | bash
# Load nvm without restarting the shell
. "$HOME/.nvm/nvm.sh"
# Install Node.js 25:
nvm install 25
# Verify Node version:
node -v   # Should print "v25.8.0".
# Verify npm version:
npm -v   # Should print "11.11.0".

Claude Code can be installed with a single command provided on its website: curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash Codex is installed via npm: npm i -g @openai/codex These three tools are presented not only as software‑development aids but also as general‑purpose AI colleagues that can draft documents, analyse data, retrieve information, and generate proposals, leveraging the underlying large‑model capabilities.