When should I use a coding agent vs browser-based chat vs Power Automate?
Here’s a simple way I think about it: does the task need
judgment (can it think and adapt), and does it need hands (can it act on your actual
files and systems)?
All judgment, no hands. You describe the problem, it gives you a sharp answer or a draft, but it can't touch your files, your spreadsheet, your systems. You're still the one who has to go do the thing. You're the copy-paste middleman between its brain and your next steps.
Judgment and hands. It comes into your shop, picks up the tools, opens the actual files, tries something, sees it didn't work, adjusts, and keeps going until the job's done. It reasons at every step and executes across your environment. It closes the loop between thinking and doing. More powerful, but it also requires more careful management.
Hands, no judgment. You wire it up once ("when an email arrives, save the attachment here, then post to that channel") and it runs those exact steps the same way every time, forever, tirelessly. It never improvises, and that's the point.
| No hands | Has hands | |
|---|---|---|
| No judgment | n/a | Power Automate |
| Has judgment | Browser-based chat | Claude Code |
1. Does the task need to act on your files or systems (create, edit, or move things)?
2. The same rote steps every time, or does it need judgment as it goes?