Augment Code UPDATE: RIP Cursor! NEW AGENT! AI Software Engineer Automates Your Code! (New Agent)

Key Concepts

• Augment Code: An AI agent for software engineers.
• Remote Agent: A cloud-based version of Augment Agent for autonomous task handling.
• Agentic AI: AI systems that can perform tasks autonomously.
• Contextual Awareness: The ability of an AI to understand and use the context of a code base.
• Hands-free Task Automation: Automating tasks without manual intervention.
• Isolated Cloud Environment: A secure cloud environment for running agents.
• Weight List: A list for users to sign up to get access to Remote Agent.

Augment Code and Remote Agent: A Major Update

The video discusses a significant update to Augment Code, focusing on the introduction of Remote Agent. Augment Code is described as an AI agent designed for professional software engineers working with large-scale code bases. It's an open-source system known for its contextual awareness and ability to solve real-world software engineering tasks.

Remote Agent: Cloud-Based Autonomous Task Handling

Remote Agent is a cloud-based extension of Augment Agent that allows for autonomous handling of repetitive, low-priority engineering tasks in parallel, even when the user is offline. It's essentially a secure cloud-based clone of Augment Agent that mirrors the user's development environment and continues working independently.

• Key Features:
  • Parallel Task Execution: Users can run up to 10 agents in parallel.
  • Autonomous Operation: Agents can work while the user is offline.
  • Task Delegation: Tasks like applying local changes, reviewing code, and managing tickets can be delegated.
  • Integration: Integrates with MCPs (likely referring to Merge Conflict Processes) and linear tickets.
  • Real-world Application: The video shows a live demo of Remote Agent autonomously handling multiple tasks.

Accessing and Setting Up Remote Agent

Currently, access to Remote Agent is granted through a weight list. Users need to sign up at augment.new to join the weight list. Once access is granted, users need to have Augment Code installed within their IDE (VS Code, JetBrains, etc.).

• Installation Process:
  1. Install Augment Code extension in the IDE.
  2. Sign up or log in to an Augment Code account.
  3. Open the Augment extension in the IDE.
  4. Create a new project or upload an existing one.
  5. Connect to GitHub to authenticate and access repositories.
  6. Select a repository and branch to work from.
  7. Optionally, customize the agent environment by generating a setup script.

Autonomous Script Generation and Task Execution

Remote Agent can autonomously generate setup scripts for the development environment. The video demonstrates this by prompting the agent to create a script, which it does quickly, including steps for cloning and indexing the repository.

• Example Tasks:
  • Raising code coverage by writing unit and integration tests.
  • Updating documentation, including READMEs, API examples, and migration guides.

The video highlights the ability to send multiple requests to the Remote Agent, which then works on these tasks in parallel. Users can monitor the progress of the agents in the cloud and review the changes made once the tasks are completed.

Reviewing and Applying Changes

After the agent completes a task, users can review the changes and choose to apply them locally or create a pull request. The key benefit is that all of this can happen without the user's active involvement, as the agents work autonomously in the cloud.

Conclusion

Remote Agent is presented as a significant enhancement to Augment Code, enabling automation of low-priority engineering tasks in parallel, even when the user is offline. It aims to clear bottlenecks, boost productivity, and free up developers' focus for more critical work. The video encourages viewers to join the weight list to gain early access to Remote Agent.

Notable Quote:

• "Remote agent is a powerful new extension to augment code and it's going to let you automate low priority engineering tasks in parallel even when you're offline."