Sourcegraph

Key Terms

• Agent mode - Amp's operational profiles. deep (extended thinking, GPT-5.5), smart (unconstrained state-of-the-art model, now Claude Opus 4.8), and rush (fast, low-token GPT-5.5 with no reasoning, for small well-defined tasks). A large mode also exists but is not recommended. Source: Ampcode – Manual
• Oracle - A second-opinion tool available to the main agent, currently using GPT-5.5 at reasoning level "high". The main agent invokes it autonomously for complex reasoning or on explicit user request. Source: Ampcode – Manual
• Subagents - Independent agents spawned by the main agent for parallel work, each with its own context window. As of June 18 the Librarian subagent runs on GPT-5.5 (no reasoning); the Search subagent uses Gemini 3 Flash. Source: Ampcode – A Faster Librarian
• Thread - A conversation with Amp, including all messages, tool calls, and file changes. Threads are shareable via web URLs and persist across sessions. Public, internet-discoverable thread sharing was removed on June 2, 2026. Source: Ampcode – End Of Public Threads
• Auto-compaction - When the context window reaches 90% capacity, Amp summarizes the current context, starts a fresh window with that summary, and continues. Replaces the former Handoff feature. Source: Ampcode – Neo
• Plugin API - TypeScript-based extension system for Amp. Plugins can handle events, add tools and commands, show UI, classify actions with AI, and (since June 19) create custom agents. Source: Ampcode – Manual , Ampcode – Custom Agents
• Custom Agents - Plugins can now create agents with their own model, instructions, tools, and display color, then use them as the main agent, as subagents, or spawn many at once. Shipped June 19, 2026. Source: Ampcode – Custom Agents
• Orbs - Remote machines where Amp agents can run unsupervised. Each orb has 32GB memory, 16 cores, billed at $1.66/hour by the minute, and sleeps when idle. Shipped June 30, 2026. Source: Ampcode – Agents In Orbs
• Fast mode - A per-thread speed boost on Opus 4.8 at roughly 2.5x faster output, now costing 2x base tokens (down from 6x on Opus 4.7, a 3x cost reduction). Toggled from the CLI command palette. Source: Ampcode – Opus 4.8
• Pass-through pricing - Amp charges the exact API cost from model providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google) with zero markup for individual and non-enterprise workspace users. Source: Ampcode – Pricing
• AGENTS.md - Configuration files that guide Amp on codebase structure, build/test commands, and conventions. Source: Ampcode – Manual
• Proof of Human - Passkey-authenticated "sudo" sessions required for sensitive operations like remote-controlling a thread. Workspace admins can enforce this for members. Source: Ampcode – Proof Of Human

Latest Changes

Changes since the 2026-05 report.

• New model: Claude Opus 4.8 now powers smart mode (June 4), replacing Opus 4.7. Amp's internal eval put it at 62% task solve rate, up from 52% for Opus 4.7, with tighter changes, more self-verification (it ran tests/code 15% more per task), and heavier use of the Librarian (14 oracle/librarian reaches vs 1 for 4.7). Source: Ampcode – Opus 4.8
• Pricing change: Opus 4.8 fast mode now costs 2x base tokens, down from 6x on Opus 4.7 (a 3x reduction), at roughly 2.5x output speed. Source: Ampcode – Opus 4.8
• Tool removed: The built-in Read tool was dropped from smart mode; Opus 4.8 now reads files straight from the shell using cat, rg, sed, and nl, parallelizing reads when it needs several files. Source: Ampcode – Opus 4.8
• New capability: Agents in Orbs (June 30) lets users launch Amp agents on remote machines with 32GB memory and 16 cores at $1.66/hour, billed by the minute, started via amp -ox or the TUI, and synced locally with amp sync . Source: https://ampcode.com/news/agents-in-orbs
• New capability: Custom Agents (June 19) let plugins create agents with their own model, instructions, tools, and orb color, usable as the main agent, as subagents, or spawned in groups of up to 25 worker agents. Source: https://ampcode.com/news/custom-agents
• Performance: The Librarian subagent is now roughly 3x faster and 43% cheaper after switching from Sonnet 4.6 to GPT-5.5 (no reasoning) plus websocket transport. Mean latency dropped from 237s to 81s and average cost from $1.21 to $0.69 in Amp's internal eval, with quality held flat (F1 0.47 to 0.48). Source: https://ampcode.com/news/a-faster-librarian
• Feature added: Diffs (June 16) let users review and stage code changes directly in Amp, on desktop or mobile, with a diffing algorithm that does duplicate-block detection. Source: https://ampcode.com/news/diffs
• Performance: deep and rush modes now start 87% faster (first token) and finish 32% faster (p50), driven mostly by switching to OpenAI websockets; long-horizon tasks see up to 40% end-to-end speedup. Source: https://ampcode.com/news/faster-deep-rush
• Feature added: Agents, Everywhere (June 4) shipped a new UI and sidebar to watch and drive all active threads across web, CLI (Opt+S/Alt+S), and mobile, with the team thread list moved to a redesigned Activity feed. Source: https://ampcode.com/news/agents-everywhere
• Feature removed: Public, internet-discoverable thread sharing was removed (June 2). Workspace sharing and Unlisted (link-only) sharing remain. Public profiles still show activity but no longer show threads. Source: https://ampcode.com/news/end-of-public-threads
• Watch-item unchanged: The Amp Free tier ($10/day credit) remains closed to new signups. The pricing page still points to the March 30 "Amp Free Is Ad-Free" post as the latest update, and no June post announced a reopening. Source: https://ampcode.com/pricing , https://ampcode.com/news/amp-free-is-ad-free

Plans

Amp uses a pay-as-you-go credit model, not traditional subscription tiers. Usage is billed at the exact API cost from model providers with zero markup for individual and non-enterprise workspace plans. Source: Ampcode – Pricing

Terms explained:

• SSO (SAML/Okta) - Employees authenticate through their corporate identity provider instead of separate Amp passwords. Ampcode – Manual
• SCIM (directory sync) - Automatically provisions and deprovisions Amp accounts when employees join or leave the company. Ampcode – Manual
• Zero data retention - The model provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google) does not store or train on text inputs sent through Amp Enterprise. Ampcode – Security
• Entitlements - Per-user cost quotas that let workspace admins control how much each team member can spend. Ampcode – Workspace Entitlements
• Proof of Human - Passkey-authenticated sessions required for sensitive operations. Workspace admins can enforce this for all members. Ampcode – Proof Of Human
• BYOK (bring your own key) - Enterprises can use their own model-provider keys via regional endpoints. Listed as an Enterprise feature. Ampcode – Pricing

Notes:

• All unused credits expire after 1 year of account inactivity. Source: Ampcode – Pricing
• Execute mode (amp -x) and programmatic invocations consume paid credits only. Amp Free usage applies only to interactive CLI sessions. Source: Ampcode – Manual
• Invoices are issued through Stripe, which supports adding a VAT ID. Source: Ampcode – Pricing
• Per-thread cost is visible by clicking the $ price on the right sidebar of any thread page, or by running amp usage. Source: Ampcode – Pricing

API Pricing

Amp does not expose a standalone API. All usage goes through the Amp CLI or IDE integrations, and billing is based on pass-through costs from the underlying model providers. Amp does not publish the exact per-token rates it charges; it states only "zero markup on the providers' API pricing" for individual and workspace plans, and "50% more expensive" for Enterprise. Source: Ampcode – Pricing

Underlying model roles and costs (provider API rates, not published by Amp):

The Anthropic and OpenAI reference rates are tracked in the cross-supplier reports at Anthropic (Opus 4.8 at $5.00/$25.00 per MTok) and OpenAI (GPT-5.5). Sources: Anthropic – Pricing , OpenAI – Pricing

Per-task and per-thread cost data from Amp's own internal evals (June 2026):

New remote-machine cost surface (Orbs):

Source: Ampcode – Agents In Orbs

Important: Amp still does not publish the base per-token dollar rate it charges for any model, so the dollar cost of an Opus 4.8 or GPT-5.5 thread cannot be estimated ahead of time from Amp's own pages. The only published dollar figures are the internal-eval averages above and the Orbs hourly rate. Actual per-thread costs are visible in the CLI (with amp.showCosts enabled by default) and on each thread's web page. Source: Ampcode – Pricing

Model Performance / Benchmarks

Amp does not publish public benchmark scores (SWE-Bench Verified, TerminalBench, etc.). The company reports internal eval scores in blog posts, but the eval suite, prompts, and scoring criteria are not published. Source: Ampcode – Opus 4.8

The eval methodology (task set, prompts, pass criteria) is not published, so Amp's internal scores are not directly comparable to vendor SWE-Bench submissions.

Latest News

Opus 4.8 Powers Smart Mode (June 4, 2026)

Claude Opus 4.8 replaced Opus 4.7 as the smart mode model. In Amp's internal eval it solved 62% of tasks versus 4.7's 52%. Amp describes the difference as restraint and verification: 4.8 makes more focused changes, leans on a tighter write-then-test loop (running tests and code 15% more per task than 4.7), and reaches for the Librarian and repo skills more often to verify work instead of assuming correctness. It made 79% of file edits via edit_file rather than full rewrites, up from 63%. Amp dropped the built-in Read tool from smart because 4.8 reads files competently via shell (cat, rg, sed, nl). Opus 4.8 fast mode now costs 2x base tokens (down from 6x on 4.7), at roughly 2.5x output speed. Source: Ampcode – Opus 4.8

Faster Deep and Rush (June 5, 2026)

In deep and rush modes the first token now arrives 87% faster and entire responses finish 32% faster (p50), mostly from switching to OpenAI websockets. Long-horizon tasks see up to a 40% end-to-end speedup. Source: Ampcode – Faster Deep Rush

Agents, Everywhere UI (June 4, 2026)

Amp shipped a new UI and sidebar for watching and driving all active threads from web, mobile, and CLI (Opt+S/Alt+S opens the sidebar). The team thread list moved to a redesigned Activity feed. This builds on the May "Neo" rebuild and its durable agent loop. Source: Ampcode – Agents Everywhere

The End of Public Threads (June 2, 2026)

Amp removed public, internet-discoverable thread sharing. Workspace sharing and Unlisted (link-only) sharing remain. Public user profiles still show activity but no longer show threads, and existing Public (Discoverable) threads were converted to Unlisted so old blog links do not break. Amp called the move proactive (not prompted by an incident), citing the growing risk that agents read sensitive file snippets into context. Source: Ampcode – End Of Public Threads

Diffs (June 16, 2026)

Users can now review and stage code changes directly in Amp on desktop or mobile while a thread has an active environment. The diffing algorithm does duplicate-block detection to reduce cognitive load on large agent-generated changesets. Source: Ampcode – Diffs

A Faster Librarian (June 18, 2026)

The Librarian subagent switched from Claude Sonnet 4.6 to GPT-5.5 (no reasoning) plus websocket transport, making it roughly 3x faster and 43% cheaper at the same quality. Mean latency fell from 237s to 81s, average cost from $1.21 to $0.69, and F1 quality held flat (0.47 to 0.48). It now fires about 8 tool calls in parallel per turn (up from ~3) and finishes a search in ~5 turns instead of ~15. Source: Ampcode – A Faster Librarian

Custom Agents (June 19, 2026)

Plugins can now create custom agents with their own model, instructions, tool set, and orb color. These agents can serve as the main Amp agent, as subagents, as part of an amp -x tool pipeline, or be spawned in groups (the post cites up to 25 worker agents). The Plugin API exposes createAgent, registerAgentMode, and a Thread object for sending messages and waiting for responses. Source: Ampcode – Custom Agents

Agents in Orbs (June 30, 2026)

Amp can now run agents on remote machines called orbs. Each orb has 32GB memory and 16 cores, costs $1.66/hour billed by the minute, starts quickly, and sleeps when idle. Users control orbs from the web, mobile, or CLI, can browse files and use a terminal on the orb, and sync changes locally with amp sync . A thread can be spawned directly in an orb with amp -ox, or from inside the TUI. Amp frames this as crossing a threshold where agents can write and test code on machines that are not the developer's laptop. Source: https://ampcode.com/news/agents-in-orbs

Community Signals

June HN engagement stayed low; the only June Amp submission drew 2 points

Amp's HackerNews footprint remained small in June. The sole June 2026 Amp submission, "Agents in Orbs" (posted June 30 by tosh), reached 2 points and 0 comments. Source: News – Item

This continues the pattern noted in the May report: Amp's biggest HN moment is still the December 2025 spinout announcement (90 points, 37 comments), and even major releases like the May "Amp, Rebuilt" (11 points) and the June "Agents in Orbs" (2 points) generate little discussion. A date-filtered HN search for ampcode stories created after June 1, 2026 returned only the single "Agents in Orbs" submission. Source: Hn – Search By Date

The spinout thread remains the richest Amp community discussion (December 2025 comments)

Because June produced almost no fresh Amp discussion on HN, the most substantive buyer-facing community signal is still in the December 2025 spinout thread, which was re-indexed in late June. The dominant theme across that thread is the cost-versus-quality tradeoff of Amp's pass-through model.

• ramraj07: "As someone who switches between most CLIs to compare, Amp is still on top, costs more, but has the best results. The librarian and oracle make it leagues ahead of the competition." News – Item
• embedding-shape: "I've gave it a try a couple of times, but it's so expensive I'm having a hard time even being able to judge it fairly. The first time I spent just $5, second $10 and the third time $20, but they all went by so fast I'm worried even if I find it great, it's way too expensive, and having a number tick up/down makes me nervous." News – Item
• sergiotapia: "Amp blew me away and was my primary workhorse. Much better than anything out there for a time. But then I switched to GLM 4.6 using Claude CLI tool and that was good enough and significantly cheaper/faster... With Amp I was spending $5 here and there every day. Great, but pricey." News – Item
• incoming1211, replying on the cost question: "I don't understand how people use these tools without a subscription. Unless you are using it very infrequently paying per token gets costly very fast." (and later in the same subthread: "Work pays for it... our team spends > $1000/m EACH on Amp alone"). News – Item

General observations

• Amp's deliberate feature churn (removing public threads this month, plus the May removals of Handoff, rollback-on-edit, permissions-by-default, and themes) continues to be a structural property of the product rather than a one-off. The company frames this as staying on the frontier ("If we don't use and love a feature, we kill it"), but it means buyers cannot assume any non-core feature will persist month to month. Source: Ampcode – End Of Public Threads , Ampcode – Manual
• Reddit's r/AmpCode community was not fetched for this report. No X/Twitter community data was collected.
• No June community quote about Orbs, Custom Agents, or the Opus 4.8 upgrade was available on HN, because the only June submission drew no comments.

Enterprise Readiness

Transparency Gaps