Series
A Subscription-First AI Workspace
An eight-part series moving from US$20 plan comparison through measurement, context, sessions, tool output, model routing, orchestration, and break-even decisions.
1. A Subscription-First AI Workspace··experimentalComparing US$20 AI coding subscriptions without API keysCompare the roughly US$20 Gemini CLI, Codex, and Claude Code subscriptions with Z.ai, Kimi Code, and OpenCode Go, then design a no-key workflow that reduces usage per completed task.
2. A Subscription-First AI Workspace··experimentalMeasure subscription AI by completed workBuild a baseline that compares verified work per consumed allowance and rework time without pretending that provider requests, messages, credits, and tokens are interchangeable.
3. A Subscription-First AI Workspace··experimentalPut a budget on AI coding contextReduce repeated subscription usage by separating durable rules, task contracts, and temporary evidence instead of duplicating long AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, and GEMINI.md files.
4. A Subscription-First AI Workspace··experimentalHandoff AI work without carrying the sessionStart a fresh session for a new task, compact only a continuing task, and switch providers with evidence-based handoffs instead of copied conversation history.
5. A Subscription-First AI Workspace··experimentalBudget logs, tests, diffs, and MCP outputConstrain shell logs, test results, diffs, searches, and MCP responses in stages so an agent keeps the evidence needed to solve the problem without carrying unbounded tool output.
6. A Subscription-First AI Workspace··experimentalRoute subscription work from light to deep modelsClassify work as exploration, everyday implementation, or high-stakes reasoning, then start with the lightest suitable model and escalate only on observable failure signals.
7. A Subscription-First AI Workspace··experimentalOrchestrate AI subscriptions without API keysUse the official signed-in Gemini CLI, Codex, Claude Code, and Kimi Code clients as explorer, implementer, and reviewer roles in one repository without duplicating work.
8. A Subscription-First AI Workspace··experimentalSet break-even and cancellation rules for AI subscriptionsCompare one US$20 subscription, several core subscriptions, and a higher tier by total cost per accepted task, then define explicit rules to keep, add, upgrade, or cancel.