--- title: "planning-with-files vs agents" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/othmanadi-planning-with-files-vs-wshobson-agents" tools: ["othmanadi-planning-with-files", "wshobson-agents"] --- # planning-with-files vs agents *GraphCanon updated Aug 19, 2026* ## Verdict Pick planning-with-files if a tool designed for providing persistent file-based planning in long-running AI coding tasks; pick agents if the agents tool is a marketplace for plugins that enhances multiple AI agents, offering integration and management capabilities across several platforms, including Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor, OpenCode, GitHub Copilot. [planning-with-files](https://www.skills.sh/othmanadi/planning-with-files/planning-with-files) reports 26k GitHub stars, 2.2k forks, and 9 open issues, last pushed Aug 19, 2026. [agents](https://sethhobson.com) has 39k stars, 4.1k forks, and 5 open issues, last pushed Aug 18, 2026. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [planning-with-files's repository](https://github.com/OthmanAdi/planning-with-files) and [agents's repository](https://github.com/wshobson/agents). | | [planning-with-files](/tools/othmanadi-planning-with-files.md) | [agents](/tools/wshobson-agents.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | Persistent file-based planning for AI coding agents | Multi-harness agentic plugin marketplace for various AI agents | | Stars | 26,250 | 38,928 | | Forks | 2,199 | 4,145 | | Open issues | 9 | 5 | | Language | Shell | Python | | Adopt for | A tool designed for providing persistent file-based planning in long-running AI coding tasks. | The agents tool is a marketplace for plugins that enhances multiple AI agents, offering integration and management capabilities across several platforms, including Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor, OpenCode, GitHub Copilot | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | MIT | MIT | | Categories | AI Agents, Developer Tools | AI Agents, Developer Tools | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [planning-with-files](/tools/othmanadi-planning-with-files.md) | [agents](/tools/wshobson-agents.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Days since push | 0d | 1d | | Open issues (now) | 9 | 5 | | Stars delta | +691 (30d) | +860 (30d) | | Open issues delta | +4 (30d) | +2 (30d) | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/othmanadi-planning-with-files/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/wshobson-agents/trust.md) | **Typed relationship:** planning-with-files _(related)_ agents agents' workflows might incorporate file-based planning techniques similar to what is explored in planning-with-files for managing AI coding agents efficiently. ## Decision facts: planning-with-files - **Pricing:** freemium - Freely available under MIT License; community-supported. - **Adopt for:** A tool designed for providing persistent file-based planning in long-running AI coding tasks. ## Decision facts: agents - **Adopt for:** The agents tool is a marketplace for plugins that enhances multiple AI agents, offering integration and management capabilities across several platforms, including Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor, OpenCode, GitHub Copilot ## Choose when ### Choose planning-with-files if… - planning-with-files is primarily Shell; agents is Python. - Pricing: Freely available under MIT License; community-supported.. - agents' workflows might incorporate file-based planning techniques similar to what is explored in planning-with-files for managing AI coding agents efficiently. - Tags unique to planning-with-files: ai-agents, claude-code, codex, coding-agent. - - When your coding agent needs to retain plans across sessions without context loss. ### Choose agents if… - agents is primarily Python; planning-with-files is Shell. - agents' workflows might incorporate file-based planning techniques similar to what is explored in planning-with-files for managing AI coding agents efficiently. - Tags unique to agents: agentic-ai, automation, prompt-engineering, workflows. - You are working specifically within the ecosystems of Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor, OpenCode, GitHub Copilot, or Gemini CLI, as it provides tailored plugins for these environments ## When NOT to use planning-with-files - - When you do not need persistent storage for plans, such as short tasks where context is unlikely to be lost. - - For projects that strictly prohibit the use of external file storage for tracking progress due to security concerns. - - If your workflow heavily relies on in-memory planning strategies that are more suitable than disk-based solutions. ## When NOT to use agents - You are working solely within a niche environment that isn't one of the supported platforms (like Claude Code, Codex CLI, etc.) because it may not offer compatible plugins or extensive support - Your project requirements do not include interoperability between multiple AI agents and you only need to leverage functionalities from a single AI agent with a robust in-built plugin ecosystem ## Common questions ### What is the difference between planning-with-files and agents? planning-with-files: Persistent file-based planning for AI coding agents. agents: Multi-harness agentic plugin marketplace for various AI agents. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose planning-with-files over agents? Choose planning-with-files over agents when planning-with-files is primarily Shell; agents is Python; Pricing: Freely available under MIT License; community-supported.; agents' workflows might incorporate file-based planning techniques similar to what is explored in planning-with-files for managing AI coding agents efficiently; Tags unique to planning-with-files: ai-agents, claude-code, codex, coding-agent; - When your coding agent needs to retain plans across sessions without context loss. ### When should I choose agents over planning-with-files? Choose agents over planning-with-files when agents is primarily Python; planning-with-files is Shell; agents' workflows might incorporate file-based planning techniques similar to what is explored in planning-with-files for managing AI coding agents efficiently; Tags unique to agents: agentic-ai, automation, prompt-engineering, workflows; You are working specifically within the ecosystems of Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor, OpenCode, GitHub Copilot, or Gemini CLI, as it provides tailored plugins for these environments. ### When should I avoid planning-with-files? - When you do not need persistent storage for plans, such as short tasks where context is unlikely to be lost. - For projects that strictly prohibit the use of external file storage for tracking progress due to security concerns. - If your workflow heavily relies on in-memory planning strategies that are more suitable than disk-based solutions. ### When should I avoid agents? You are working solely within a niche environment that isn't one of the supported platforms (like Claude Code, Codex CLI, etc.) because it may not offer compatible plugins or extensive support Your project requirements do not include interoperability between multiple AI agents and you only need to leverage functionalities from a single AI agent with a robust in-built plugin ecosystem ### Is planning-with-files or agents more popular on GitHub? agents has more GitHub stars (38,928 vs 26,250). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are planning-with-files and agents open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (planning-with-files: MIT, agents: MIT). ### Where can I find alternatives to planning-with-files or agents? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [planning-with-files alternatives](/tools/othmanadi-planning-with-files/alternatives) and [agents alternatives](/tools/wshobson-agents/alternatives) ([planning-with-files markdown twin](/tools/othmanadi-planning-with-files/alternatives.md), [agents markdown twin](/tools/wshobson-agents/alternatives.md)), ranked by typed relationship edges rather than popularity votes. ### Is there a machine-readable version of this comparison? Yes. The markdown twin at [this comparison](/compare/othmanadi-planning-with-files-vs-wshobson-agents.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, planning-with-files or agents? planning-with-files: Very active. agents: Very active. Compare maintenance labels, days since push, and release cadence in the trust section below - stars alone do not measure maintenance. ### Where are the full trust reports for planning-with-files and agents? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [planning-with-files trust report](/tools/othmanadi-planning-with-files/trust); [agents trust report](/tools/wshobson-agents/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=othmanadi-planning-with-files`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=othmanadi-planning-with-files) - LLM index: [/llms.txt](/llms.txt) - Full corpus: [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt) _GraphCanon - The knowledge graph for AI development. https://www.graphcanon.com/_