A writer had Claude Code build its own rival in 15 minutes

A writer at XDA asked Anthropic's Claude Code, an AI coding tool, to build a competing coding tool. It did, in about 15 minutes. The result is called XDACode. It is a simple coding assistant that runs in a terminal, the text-only window developers use to control a computer.

What was built

Writer Mahnoor Faisal gave Claude Code a detailed list of requirements. She wanted a terminal-based assistant that could read and change files, run commands and tests, and fix errors on its own. She did not want a copy of Claude Code, and she did not want a shell around Claude itself. Everything else was left to the AI.

Claude Code chose Python 3 as the programming language. It also wrote its own loop that lets the assistant look at a project, make changes, run commands, check whether they worked and try again if they did not. That loop is what separates a coding agent from an ordinary chatbot.

What it can do

• Eight built-in tools: seven for files (read, create, edit, delete, search) and one for running commands.
• A permissions system, so users can approve or decline changes before they happen.
• Limits meant to stop it from touching files outside the project it is working on.
• Follow-up prompts in one session and automatic handling of longer conversations.

The first version connects to Claude models through Anthropic's API, the service that lets other software use them.

Why this is believable

The test builds on how Anthropic says it works. Claude Code's creator, Boris Cherny, said that in the 30 days before December 2025, all of his contributions were written with Claude Code and Opus 4.5. That covered 259 pull requests (proposed code changes) and 497 commits (saved updates). In June 2026, he told Fortune he had not written code by hand in about eight months.

What is not known

The article text available here cuts off before the testing results. How well XDACode performs, how it compares with the real Claude Code and what it cost to run are not covered. It is also a basic tool, not a full replacement.

What it means for business owners

Small software tools that once took days can now be drafted by AI in minutes. That may change what small custom projects cost. It is worth asking any developer or agency how they are using these tools and whether prices should reflect it.