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Coding agents are revolutionizing software development, but are you getting the most out of them? Many AI coding tools struggle with complex, long-running tasks, often getting lost in the middle of a project. In this episode of Tool Use, we sit down with Kiran, one of the core contributors to Slate, a research-driven coding agent built for the toughest production-level challenges.

Kiran shares a deep dive into how to properly set up your dev environment to maximize the performance of any coding agent. We discuss the critical role of feedback loops, clear development pipelines, and consistent codebase patterns in getting correct, reliable code from LLMs. You'll learn why models are great at following patterns but terrible at creating them, and how to structure your projects for AI success. We also explore what makes Slate different, including its unique approach to context management that keeps it on track during complex tasks, preventing the performance degradation common in other agents.

Find Slate here:

https://randomlabs.ai/

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00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:54 - Setting Up Your Dev Environment for AI

00:15:18 - Is Software Engineering Dead?

00:18:20 - Why Coding Agents? The Origin of Slate

00:21:52 - What Makes Slate Different?

00:33:19 - The Bottleneck: LLMs vs Tooling

00:44:30 - Why LLMs Get "Lost in the Middle"

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Tool Use is a weekly conversation with the top AI experts, brought to you by ToolHive.

Join the Tool Use Discord: https://discord.gg/PnEGyXpjaX

Unlock the power of AI for your business, even if you're not a tech expert. In this episode, AI strategist Marni Wills reveals how non-technical founders can leverage AI as a new operating system to amplify their intelligence. Learn to build powerful AI workflows, create your own AI operating system, and personalize tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity for massive business growth. Marni breaks down her exact process for using AI agents, developing custom instructions to avoid hallucinations, and building a "second brain" to automate tasks from email marketing to securing podcast interviews. This is your guide to making AI work for you, strategically, not technically.

Connect with Marni Wills:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marnie-wills-entrepreneur

Website: https://businesswithaistrategist.com/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/businesswithai_strategist/

Digital Store: https://stan.store/business_with_ai_strategist

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https://x.com/MikeBirdTech

00:00:00 - Intro

00:02:19 - First Steps for Non-Technical Founders

00:08:13 - How to Avoid AI Hallucinations

00:11:04 - Building a Custom Prompt Library

00:27:17 - AI Agents vs. Automation (Lindy vs. Make)

00:32:48 - Creative AI Workflows You Haven't Thought Of

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Tool Use is a weekly conversation with the top AI experts, brought to you by ToolHive.

Join the Tool Use Discord: https://discord.gg/PnEGyXpjaX

Are you ready for AI agents to browse the web? We explore the future of AI agent authentication, web security, and API design in this deep dive. As AI agents proliferate, critical questions arise: how do we handle security without giving an agent your password? How can we make websites optimized for agent consumption? We're joined by Bobbie Chen, a product manager at Stytch specializing in bot and AI agent detection, to discuss the risks and opportunities.

We cover how OAuth can provide safer, scoped permissions for agents, and the emerging open standard Web Bot Auth, which allows agents to cryptographically prove their identity. Bobbie breaks down Simon Willison's "lethal trifecta" of AI security risks and discusses strategies for mitigating malicious behavior. We also touch on the future of AI SEO, how API design must evolve for a hybrid human-agent world, and the potential impact of agents on web monetization and advertising.

Learn more from Bobbie Chen:

Stytch supports Web Bot Auth: https://stytch.com/blog/stytch-supports-web-bot-auth

Stytch Connected Apps (OAuth for AI agents): https://stytch.com/connected-apps

Stytch Fraud and Risk Prevention: stytch.com/fraud

AGI Builders Meetup: https://luma.com/agibuilders

IsAgent SDK for agent identification: https://IsAgent.dev

Additional Resources from the episode:

Simon Willison's lethal trifecta: https://simonwillison.net/2025/Jun/16/the-lethal-trifecta

IETF Web Bot Auth: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/bofreq-nottingham-web-bot-auth/

Jon Postel as "benevolent dictator" of IANA: http://memex.org/meme4-01.html

Freestyle Cloud: https://www.freestyle.sh

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https://x.com/ToolUsePodcast

https://x.com/MikeBirdTech

00:00:00 - Intro

00:03:25 - The Risks of AI Agents Browsing the Web

00:07:14 - A Bot Registry vs. Open Protocols

00:18:04 - How AI Will Change Web Monetization & Ads

00:35:03 - The "Lethal Trifecta" of AI Security

00:41:25 - Practical Advice for Website Owners & Agent Devs

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Tool Use is a weekly conversation with the top AI experts, brought to you by ToolHive.