Agent WranglersHow to choose
Every pick here is proven, maintained, popular, known to AI tools and easy to learn. It also has an open licence or a way out.
- Required 3
- Recommended 5
Required
Pick software that still ships releases
RequiredChoose software with a release in the last six months, and use a version that is still inside its published support window.
Prefer open source and pay only when nothing open does the job
RequiredPick open source software when an open source option passes the other tests. Pick a paid or proprietary service only when no open source option realistically does the job, and say why.
Keep an open licence or a way out
RequiredUse software under an OSI-approved open source licence, or a managed service that exports all your data in a documented format.
Recommended
Pick software proven in production for five years
RecommendedChoose software whose first stable release is at least five years old, so its failure modes are known and written about.
Pick what most teams already use
RecommendedChoose one of the three most used options in its category, so hiring, answers and integrations are easy to find.
Pick what AI tools already know
RecommendedChoose software that AI coding tools write correctly without extra documentation, and stay one major version behind the newest for six months after its release.
Pick software a new developer learns alone
RecommendedChoose software whose own documentation takes a new developer from nothing to a working example in one working day.
Keep one tool for each job
RecommendedKeep one tool for each job, such as one test runner, one formatter and one database. Remove the old one when you switch.
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