Claude Code Guide

What it does

Claude Code is Anthropic's coding agent, run from a terminal through conversational instructions. Beyond its default flow of handling one task at a time, it also offers several ways to run multiple agents in parallel so a larger job can be split up.

The AI in this role does not just answer in a chat window: it runs in a terminal (a screen where you type commands to control the computer directly) and actually creates files and runs code. Once you give it an instruction, it chains several steps together on its own.

When it fits

It fits teams working solo or in small numbers who hand off one task at a time, with no extra setup needed. Teams that want to run several agents in parallel should first weigh that this mode is still early-stage and that cost scales up with the number of agents running.

When it doesn't fit

The limitations below come from the vendor's own official documentation, not our evaluation. As of 2026-09-22

There are five ways to run agents in parallel, and three of them are not yet general-availability features. Agent teams is an experimental mode disabled by default, agent view is a research preview, and Projects is a public beta limited to the Pro and Max plans. Anthropic also states that running several agents at once multiplies token cost.

• View source at code.claude.com

Compare with

Codex is the closest comparison. Claude Code fits if you already run Claude at the organization level or want a conversational, multi-step handoff, and Codex fits if you want to watch progress through a dedicated app inside the OpenAI ecosystem.

• Codex

Official link

Other tools in this layer

• Codex
• Hermes Agent
• OpenClaw