GitHub Mode: A Game Changer for Agentic Coding

I’ve been deep in agentic coding for a while now, but this week's addition of GitHub Mode to my open-source agentic coder, MyCoder, has fundamentally changed how I work. It has supercharged my productivity in ways I didn’t fully anticipate, and I believe this shift signals a broader transformation in how we interact with AI-powered coding agents.

In fact, it is so productive, I am finding it a little disorienting keeping up with the opportunity.

GitHub as an External Knowledge and Task Store

One of the biggest insights I’ve had since adding GitHub Mode is that GitHub serves as a persistent, external memory store for MyCoder. This makes a huge difference in how effectively I can use an agentic coder. Instead of treating the AI as a transient assistant, GitHub Mode turns it into a fully integrated team member with long-term memory.

This is because GitHub is both readable and writable, allowing MyCoder to:

• Create GitHub issues to track tasks and its own analyses.
• Comment on issues with detailed breakdowns before diving into implementation.
• Retrieve existing issues and execute them autonomously.

This shift in workflow has made mycoder feel much more like an actual coding collaborator rather than a tool I need to micromanage. By structuring work through GitHub, I’m providing MyCoder with a system of record, ensuring continuity across tasks and making it easy to revisit past work.

The Productivity Explosion: 3x to 5x Gains

Before fully embracing agentic coding, I would average 30 commits on a good day of development (see github.com/bhouston). When I started using MyCoder more extensively, that number jumped to 50 commits per day.

But the real breakthrough came with GitHub Mode. In just a week, my daily commit count has regularly exceeded 90 commits, and on one day, today in fact, I am exceeding 160 commits and I still have 3 hours left in the work day. More importantly, these aren’t meaningless commits—they represent real, valuable work. The speed and volume are only possible because MyCoder can effectively track and execute tasks without constant human oversight.

The recent productivity has been so high, it has the effect of making my previous efforts seem sort of pedestrian and quite dim in the Github commit viewer.

PRs as Units of Work

Another huge benefit of GitHub Mode is its ability to create pull requests (PRs). This turns MyCoder into a structured, incremental contributor. Instead of dumping raw code into the repo, I can let MyCoder work for 30 minutes at a time, submitting PRs that I can review asynchronously.

This changes the dynamic entirely:

• Instead of real-time, back-and-forth interactions, I can batch my reviews.
• Each PR provides a clear, reviewable unit of submitted work.
• The AI can refine PRs based on my feedback or GitHub Action results.

This last point is critical—since MyCoder can now retrieve GitHub Action logs, it can detect failures and iterate until the PR is in a mergeable state. This eliminates much of the grunt work normally required to debug automated tests.

Real-World Examples of GitHub Mode in Action

To illustrate how GitHub Mode has transformed my workflow, here are some synthetic examples based on real prompts I've used:

1. Managing Issues and PRs Effectively

"In PR #45, which fixes issue #44, you mentioned adding a pre-push hook with the same validation as the pre-commit hook. Can you confirm whether this introduces redundant checks that might slow down development? If so, we should optimize it."

2. Executing Multiple Issues in a Single PR

"Can you implement GitHub issues #31 and #30 together in a single PR? This will ensure related changes are reviewed and merged simultaneously. Once done, submit the PR and link both issues."

3. Debugging CI Failures

"You just created PR #34, fixing issues #30 and #31. However, the CI is failing. Check GitHub Actions to diagnose the issue and determine if your recent repository reorganization has affected workflows or Docker configurations. If unrelated to the fixes, create a separate GitHub issue and submit an independent PR to address it."

The Future of Agentic Coding

Using GitHub as the interface for agentic coding is a game-changer. It adds task tracking, persistent context, and collaborative workflows that make MyCoder feel like a real teammate rather than a one-off assistant.

I don’t think we’re fully prepared for the changes this enables. Agentic coding is already transforming individual developer productivity, and GitHub Mode accelerates this shift by making AI coding agents more autonomous, accountable, and effective.

For now, I’m just enjoying the 3x to 5x productivity boost—but I suspect we’re only scratching the surface of what’s possible.

If you want to give Github Mode a try, download mycoder and enable Github mode to get started. Let me know your feedback in our Discord group or on social media.