State of AI Coding Tools — July 2026
By Scott Havird · · Monthly Data Report
77 releases across 8 AI coding tools in July 2026. Claude Code led with 22. Velocity down 14% MoM. Release velocity, cadence, and first-to-ship data.
Key Takeaways
- Claude Code led with 22 releases in July 2026 — one every 1.1 days (28.6% of all releases tracked).
- Overall shipping velocity was down 14% month-over-month: 77 releases vs 90 the month before.
- Kiro CLI accelerated the most: 11 releases, up from 9 the month before.
- 0 major and 19 minor version bumps shipped; the remaining 58 releases were patches.
- Claude Code has been first to ship 9 of the 20 cross-tool features we track. The median follower ships the same capability 265 days later.
Release Velocity Leaderboard — July 2026
| Tool | Releases | MoM change | Share | Avg days between releases | Major | Minor | Patch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | 22 | -6 | 28.6% | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 22 |
| Antigravity CLI | 12 | +1 | 15.6% | 2.7 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| Kiro CLI | 11 | +2 | 14.3% | 2.8 | 0 | 6 | 5 |
| OpenAI Codex CLI | 11 | 0 | 14.3% | 2.8 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| GitHub Copilot CLI | 10 | -1 | 13% | 3.2 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Gemini CLI | 5 | -2 | 6.5% | 5.8 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Devin Desktop | 5 | -4 | 6.5% | 6.3 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Cursor | 1 | -3 | 1.3% | — | 0 | 1 | 0 |
12-Month Velocity Trend
| Month | Total releases |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 66 |
| Sep 2025 | 90 |
| Oct 2025 | 110 |
| Nov 2025 | 117 |
| Dec 2025 | 72 |
| Jan 2026 | 79 |
| Feb 2026 | 88 |
| Mar 2026 | 70 |
| Apr 2026 | 86 |
| May 2026 | 71 |
| Jun 2026 | 90 |
| Jul 2026 | 77 |
First to Ship & Copying Trends
Across 20 tracked cross-tool features, 18 are contested (shipped by 2+ tools). The median follower ships the same capability 265 days after the leader.
| Tool | Times first to ship | Times follower | Median follow lag (days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | 9 | 8 | 159 |
| Devin Desktop | 8 | 7 | 180 |
| OpenAI Codex CLI | 1 | 15 | 230 |
| Cursor | 0 | 9 | 259 |
| Gemini CLI | 0 | 5 | 328 |
| Kiro CLI | 0 | 7 | 308 |
| GitHub Copilot CLI | 0 | 17 | 279 |
| Antigravity CLI | 0 | 10 | 468 |
Feature shipments this month
- Antigravity CLI shipped Background Tasks — 328 days after Claude Code
- Antigravity CLI shipped Planning Mode — 393 days after Devin Desktop
- Antigravity CLI shipped Custom Slash Commands — 497 days after Claude Code
- Kiro CLI shipped Hooks — 381 days after Claude Code
- Antigravity CLI shipped Extended Thinking — 511 days after Devin Desktop
- Antigravity CLI shipped Subagents / Parallel Agents — 461 days after Claude Code
- Antigravity CLI shipped Project Memory Files — 590 days after Devin Desktop
- Antigravity CLI shipped Headless / Non-interactive Mode — 475 days after Claude Code
Ecosystem Pulse
| Tool | GitHub stars | npm weekly downloads | Downloads trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | 139,870 | 10,240,442 | -4.8% |
| OpenAI Codex CLI | 103,020 | 16,096,488 | +5.7% |
| Gemini CLI | 106,290 | 385,645 | -32.1% |
| GitHub Copilot CLI | 11,037 | 1,973 | +12.5% |
Notable Releases
- Claude Code v2.1.212 (July 16, 2026): Claude Code 2.1.212 makes it easier to manage multiple conversations with /fork creating separate background sessions while you keep working, and adds smart safeguards that prevent runaway searches and task loops from spinning out of control. Long-running tools now move to the...
- Antigravity CLI v1.1.6 (July 24, 2026): Antigravity CLI 1.1.6 introduces custom agents defined through simple Markdown files, giving you powerful control over agent behavior without complex configuration. We've also made search faster with live streaming results and improved clipboard copying to access any recent re...
- Kiro CLI v2.12.0 (July 9, 2026): Kiro CLI 2.12.0 now works with stricter OAuth servers like Figma by letting you configure your own client credentials and callback paths. We've also improved command approval prompts and added full support for terminals without Unicode. See what else improved in this release.
- OpenAI Codex CLI rust-v0.145.0 (July 21, 2026): OpenAI Codex CLI rust-v0.145.0 now lets you work with audio inputs directly and brings multi-agent collaboration to stable release, so your coding assistant can handle more complex tasks. We've also made conversations faster and smoother with smarter memory management and impr...
- GitHub Copilot CLI v1.0.71 (July 16, 2026): GitHub Copilot CLI v1.0.71 fixes a frustrating issue where autopilot mode would hang when background processes ran too long, plus improves how the tool remembers your preferences across longer work sessions. You'll also notice better feedback when settings go wrong and tighter...
- Gemini CLI v0.52.0 (July 22, 2026): Gemini CLI v0.52.0 now keeps your workspace cleaner by filtering out temporary build files, and adds powerful new tools for automated issue triage and GitHub integration. Plus, we've fixed several bugs to make JSON and notebook file handling smoother. Check the full release no...
- Devin Desktop v3.6.21 (July 29, 2026): Devin Desktop 3.6.21 brings native OS notifications that alert you when agent sessions finish or need your input, plus smarter UI improvements like faster performance and better session organization. Codemaps now work seamlessly across all modes, and you can quickly add transc...
- Cursor v3.11 (July 10, 2026): Side Chats and Conversation Search
Use this data
This report is generated from Havoptic's continuously collected release dataset — free to cite with attribution and a link to this page. Raw data: reports.json. Method: how we collect and classify releases.
Suggested citation: "State of AI Coding Tools — July 2026", Havoptic, August 1, 2026, https://www.havoptic.com/reports/2026-07