MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open protocol designed by Anthropic that lets Claude Code call external tools and data sources through a standardized interface. Since its November 2024 release, it has rapidly become the de facto standard for AI agent tool integration, adopted by Cursor, Windsurf, and 40+ other editors.
From Carbon (code-to-image), nektos/act (run GitHub Actions locally), to Ink (React-based terminal UI) — 10 OSS projects that each solve one specific problem really well.
OpenAI Codex CLI and multiple AI coding agents have free tiers. The key is understanding each tool's quota mechanism, how to combine them to extend free usage, and when paid tiers are actually worth it.
Python is still the dominant language for AI development, but the rise of AI coding tools is blurring the line between 'writing Python code' and 'doing AI development' — this is what that shift actually means.