{"slug": "codewhale", "name": "CodeWhale", "category": "ai-coding", "category_name": "AI coding tools", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 4, "warners": 0, "score": 3.097, "rising": 0.35, "first": "2026-05-30", "latest": "2026-08-13", "why": "", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 1, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 2, 1, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "", "kind": "", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": "github.com/hmbown/codewhale", "official_url": "https://github.com/hmbown/codewhale", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["CodeWhale", "Codewhale"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 786013152, "item_id": 49125822, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49125822", "by": "rented_mule", "date": "2026-07-31", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using it for just over two months", "excerpt": "CodeWhale is a coding agent that auto-routes requests to Flash / Pro based on complexity, as determined by Flash. It's also tuned for DeepSeek's caching behavior, making things even more inexpensive. I'm retired, but I've been using it for just over two months at about the rate I would use it if I were working half-time, and I've spent $19 total. https://github.com/Hmbown/CodeWhale", "context": "retired", "use_case": "AI coding agent with auto-routing", "switched_from": "", "story": "DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 Intelligence, Performance and Price Analysis"}, {"id": 781121776, "item_id": 48820111, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48820111", "by": "james2doyle", "date": "2026-07-07", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It is actually really slick", "excerpt": "Yeah sounds like maybe you got stuck in a loop? If you\u2019re a big Deepseek fan, check out their Codewhale harness. It is actually really slick and you can use your OpenRouter account with it. You can use any model you want but it is really tailored to work well with the Deepseek duo", "context": "", "use_case": "DeepSeek coding harness", "switched_from": "", "story": "GLM 5.2 and the coming AI margin collapse"}, {"id": 773433248, "item_id": 48339578, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48339578", "by": "rented_mule", "date": "2026-05-30", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "So I just started trying CodeWhale", "excerpt": "I retired a few years ago, but I still write a fair bit of code. I was using Copilot's code completion before I retired, but coding agents hadn't come around yet. I've been wanting to try them, but I kept putting it off, and now the price increases make it hard to justify. So I just started trying CodeWhale (https://github.com/Hmbown/CodeWhale) with DeepSeek V4. I expected to be impressed by the abilities (which stil", "context": "", "use_case": "coding agent", "switched_from": "", "story": "Corporate America Is Starting to Ration AI as Cost Skyrockets"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "rented_mule", "context": "retired", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49125822", "date": "2026-07-31"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["ai coding agent with auto-routing", "deepseek coding harness", "ai coding", "coding agent"], "compared": [{"slug": "oh-my-pi", "name": "oh-my-pi", "co": 1, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "deepseek", "name": "DeepSeek", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "github-copilot", "name": "GitHub Copilot", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49285244", "title": "DeepSeek Harness", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49120299", "title": "DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 Intelligence, Performance and Price Analysis", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48809877", "title": "GLM 5.2 and the coming AI margin collapse", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48413629", "title": "Ask HN: What is your (AI) dev tech stack / workflow? (June 2026)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48335388", "title": "Corporate America Is Starting to Ration AI as Cost Skyrockets", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-06": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 788576976, "item_id": 49286061, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49286061", "by": "pohl", "date": "2026-08-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "", "excerpt": "Probably for the ease of coding extensions. There\u2019s an interesting counter example for DeepSeek called CodeWhale, though: https://github.com/Hmbown/CodeWhale", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "DeepSeek Harness"}, {"id": 786013152, "item_id": 49125822, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49125822", "by": "rented_mule", "date": "2026-07-31", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using it for just over two months", "excerpt": "CodeWhale is a coding agent that auto-routes requests to Flash / Pro based on complexity, as determined by Flash. It's also tuned for DeepSeek's caching behavior, making things even more inexpensive. I'm retired, but I've been using it for just over two months at about the rate I would use it if I were working half-time, and I've spent $19 total. https://github.com/Hmbown/CodeWhale", "context": "retired", "use_case": "AI coding agent with auto-routing", "switched_from": "", "story": "DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 Intelligence, Performance and Price Analysis"}, {"id": 781121776, "item_id": 48820111, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48820111", "by": "james2doyle", "date": "2026-07-07", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It is actually really slick", "excerpt": "Yeah sounds like maybe you got stuck in a loop? If you\u2019re a big Deepseek fan, check out their Codewhale harness. It is actually really slick and you can use your OpenRouter account with it. You can use any model you want but it is really tailored to work well with the Deepseek duo", "context": "", "use_case": "DeepSeek coding harness", "switched_from": "", "story": "GLM 5.2 and the coming AI margin collapse"}, {"id": 774776547, "item_id": 48423534, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48423534", "by": "rurban", "date": "2026-06-06", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Before it was codewhale with Deepseek V4 Pro/Flash", "excerpt": "It changes every 2 weeks. right it now it is oh-my-pi cli with all models (mostly switching between sonnet\u20144.6 and Deepseek V4 Pro). Before it was codewhale with Deepseek V4 Pro/Flash Before it was kimi-k2.6 Before it was opencode Before it was Claude Before it was codex Before it was trivial github copilot auto completion in emacs. Before it was web searches and ChatGPT web UI. Mostly for C, but also C++, perl and p", "context": "", "use_case": "AI coding", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What is your (AI) dev tech stack / workflow? (June 2026)"}, {"id": 773433248, "item_id": 48339578, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48339578", "by": "rented_mule", "date": "2026-05-30", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "So I just started trying CodeWhale", "excerpt": "I retired a few years ago, but I still write a fair bit of code. I was using Copilot's code completion before I retired, but coding agents hadn't come around yet. I've been wanting to try them, but I kept putting it off, and now the price increases make it hard to justify. So I just started trying CodeWhale (https://github.com/Hmbown/CodeWhale) with DeepSeek V4. I expected to be impressed by the abilities (which stil", "context": "", "use_case": "coding agent", "switched_from": "", "story": "Corporate America Is Starting to Ration AI as Cost Skyrockets"}]}