Summary

DHH announces that Basecamp is launching full agent accessibility, including a revamped API, new CLI, and agent skills, after 37signals struggled to ship native AI features that were actually good. He argues that agents—not AI-infused features—are the killer app for AI, because LLMs work much better when they can use tools and maintain memory between prompts. The post positions this as a strategic pivot: rather than embedding mediocre AI into their products, they're making their products accessible to external agents. DHH predicts widespread adoption because agents will soon be embedded in mainstream interfaces like ChatGPT and Gemini, creating demand for a personal executive assistant. He frames this as skating to where the puck is going, with plans to extend agent accessibility to Fizzy and HEY next.

Key Insight

The smartest move for software companies isn't cramming AI features into their products—it's making their products fully accessible to external agents, which will soon be embedded everywhere.

Spicy Quotes (click to share)

• 5

  As Microsoft and many others have realized, it's not that easy to make something that's actually good and would welcomed by users. So we didn't ship.

• 5

  Agents have emerged has the killer app for AI.

• 4

  Not only are LLMs much smarter when they can check their thinking using tools, but the file system also gives them the memory implant they needed to learn between prompts.

• 3

  All this was possible in the past with APIs, hand-written integrations, and human data scientists. But it was cumbersome, slow, and expensive, so most people just didn't.

• 5

  A vanishingly small portion of Basecamp customers have ever directly interacted with our API. But agents? I think adoption is going to be swift.

• 3

  There's a huge demand out there for a personal agent that can act as your private executive assistant.

• 4

  This is where the puck is going, and we're skating to meet it with agent accessibility across the board.

Tone

optimistic, strategic, opinionated