My VS Code setup used to eat 4GB of RAM before I even opened a file. Extensions, integrated terminal, GitHub Copilot, a couple of preview panes -- and suddenly my MacBook fan sounds like it's preparing for takeoff. I lived with it for years because, well, what's the alternative? Turns out, the alternative is better than I expected. The Shift Nobody Predicted Here's what changed: I stopped writing most of my code. Not because I quit programming -- because AI agents started writing it for me. Between Claude Code, Cursor's Composer, and Codex, my job shifted from "person who types code" to "person who reads code and decides if it's right." And once you realize you're spending 80% of your time reading, reviewing, and navigating -- not editing -- the question becomes: do I really need a full IDE for that? The honest answer is no. A heavyweight IDE makes sense when editing is your primary activity. When your primary activity is running agents, reading their output, and browsing files to verify changes, a terminal does the job with a fraction of the resources. The Setup I've been running this stack for about two months now, and I'm not going back. cmux -- The Terminal Multiplexer for Agent Workflows cmux is where everything lives. It's a macOS-native terminal built on top of Ghostty's rendering engine, but designed specifically for managing multiple AI agent sessions. What makes it different from tmux or iTerm2 splits: Notification rings -- each pane shows a blue highlight when the agent needs your attention. When you're running three Claude Code instances in parallel, this is a lifesaver. Sidebar with context -- shows git branch, working directory, and listening ports for each workspace. No more guessing which pane is which. Built-in browser pane -- agents can interact with web UIs without you switching to Chrome. brew tap manaflow-ai/cmux brew install --cask cmux I typically run 3-4 Claude Code sessions simultaneously -- one for the main feature, one for tests, one investigating a bug. cmux makes it possible to track all of them without losing your mind. yazi -- A File Explorer That Doesn't Suck The biggest thing I missed from VS Code was the file sidebar. Clicking around a project tree is second nature. In the terminal, you're stuck with ls and cd and hoping you remember where that config file lives. yazi fixes this completely. It's a terminal file manager written in Rust with async I/O, and it's absurdly fast. We're talking instant directory traversal even in a monorepo with thousands of files. What sold me: Image and code preview -- syntax-highlighted code previews right in the terminal. You can browse your project and preview files without opening them. Vim-style navigation -- h/j/k/l to move, enter to open, q to quit. No learning curve if you know vim. Bulk operations -- select multiple files, rename in batch, move, delete. Things that require a mouse in VS Code are keyboard shortcuts here. Tabs -- multiple directories open at once, just like browser tabs. I keep yazi open in one cmux pane at all times. It's replaced the VS Code sidebar entirely. glow -- Markdown Without a Browser When agents generate documentation or you need to review a README, you don't want to open a browser or a preview pane. glow renders markdown beautifully in the terminal. Headers, code blocks, tables, links -- all formatted and readable. glow README.md Simple, fast, and one less reason to leave the terminal. ripgrep -- You Already Know This One ripgrep needs no introduction. It's grep, but fast. Respects .gitignore, searches recursively by default, and returns results before you finish blinking. In a terminal-first workflow, rg becomes your primary code navigation tool. Forget "Go to Definition" -- just rg "functionName" and you're there. rg "handlePayment" --type ts -C 3 With context lines, you get enough surrounding code to understand the match without opening the file. For quick code review of agent output, this is often all you need. neovim -- When You Actually Need to Edit Sometimes you do need to edit a file manually. A quick config change, a one-line fix the agent got wrong, or a commit message. For that, neovim is already in your terminal. No need to launch a separate application. I'm not suggesting you become a vim power user. A minimal config with syntax highlighting and basic LSP support is enough. The point isn't to replicate VS Code in the terminal -- it's to have a capable editor available when you need it, without the overhead when you don't. The Resource Difference Here's what my typical development session looks like in terms of memory: Before (VS Code + extensions + terminal): VS Code: ~2-3GB Extensions (ESLint, Prettier, GitLens, Copilot, etc.): ~800MB Integrated terminal: ~200MB Chrome for docs: ~1-2GB Total: 4-6GB After (terminal-only): cmux: ~150MB 3x Claude Co