Beyond Code: The Intent-Driven IDE for the Agentic Age

For decades, IDEs have organized software development around files, editors, plugins, code completion, and automation. But what happens when the developer’s primary input is no longer code, but intent?

In this live, demo-driven session, we’ll examine the emerging shape of intent-driven development environments: specifications become executable context, agents work concurrently in isolated workspaces, and developers shift from producing every line to directing, reviewing, and integrating work.

We’ll take a task from specification to pull request, delegate parts of it to specialized agents, and build an extension for a custom workflow the environment did not previously support. We’ll also explore the architectural choices behind these systems, including agent harnesses, model selection, local inference, automation, context management, and human approval boundaries.

Rather than presenting agents as a replacement for developers, we’ll examine where this model works, where it breaks down, and what skills developers need when intent becomes the starting point for software creation.