VCN #46: Bake-Off

Heads up: this is a hands-on build night and bringing a laptop is mandatory. Six coding agents. One bench. Your task. One winner. At #45 (Bench) you wrote an eval for your coding agent: your task set, pass^k, real grading. This Saturday we use it. We put the agents in the ring and run them head-to-head on the bench you built. VCN #46: Bake-Off is the morning where the field gets settled, with data. The contenders: Claude Code, Cline, Aider, Codex, Cursor, Continue. Same task. Same grader. We score three things that actually decide your workflow: cost, latency, and quality. z.ai + Claude Code is one of the contenders in hand. Nebius Token Factory credits run the local contenders so the field is fair, no agent wins just because it had a bigger budget. Format: Rack the field. Wire each agent up to the same task and the same bench. We standardize the harness so every contender gets a fair shot.Run the bracket. Fire the agents at the task. Watch them work. Capture cost per run, wall-clock latency, and pass rate on your grader.Score the board. Read the numbers together. Which agent wins on quality, which wins on cost, which wins on speed, and where the trade-offs land for YOUR stack.Pick your fighter. Leave with a ranked board and a clear answer: the coding agent that wins for your tasks, on your bench. By 1pm you have real data on which coding agent to actually use. Not vibes. Numbers. Builders only. Bring the bench you wrote at #45 (or a task you want graded). Doors 10am. Build sprint 10:15. Demos and coffee at noon. Frontier Tower Floor 9. Your ticket includes z.ai + Claude Code for the session and Nebius Token Factory credits to run the labs. Hosted by Vibe Coding Nights: Rayyan Zahid (Immersive Commons), Michalis Vasileiadis (Hacker Bob), Eric Mockler (AI Geneticist), Devinder Sodhi (Learning Layer Labs). Facilitator: Rayyan Zahid. Guest speaker TBD (open call). RSVP if you have ever argued about which coding agent is best and wanted the receipts. Frontier Tower members: your ticket is on us. Reach out to the team directly and we'll get you a free RSVP.