Most Developers Call AI Data With APIs and A2A
A recent Theory Ventures survey found that 91% out of 413 senior technical builders surveyed are either directly building AI, or managing teams that build AI. That said, only 17% are building MCP servers. This contrasts with the 46% that are using direct tool calling, including via APIs and A2A, to access data.
The survey found the most common use case for agent tools is accessing databases, with 72% of respondents using AI agents to do this.
Nearly everyone (98%) is evaluating the quality of their AI, usually using a combination of automated and manual methods, the survey found. Overall, 27% are using LLMs to judge the quality of their AI’s output and 63% are using synthetic data to evaluate their AI’s output.
46% of builders are using direct tool calling to access data, including via APIs and A2A.
Respondents were almost three times as likely to use AI evaluations to assess the quality of their AI products as compared to those using telemetry.
When it comes to LLM observability, 57% are storing interaction with their AI system as traces in a product designed for LLM observability. However, 57% say they also use spreadsheets to review the data they are collecting.
Perhaps that is why 21% said data review of interactions are the area of tooling they most believe will add value for their projects.
When it comes to context engineering, 47% are using a prompt optimization method like GEPA and Prompt Evolution. Fifty-two percent are managing prompts as code that can be checked into their code repository and handled like other code reviews. That’s in contrast to the 41% who are updating prompts with text files that people from different teams are collaborating on.
Another 41% said they are iterating on prompts outside of the code, according to the survey.
Shipaton Mobile Hack-A-Thon Won With Vibe-Coded App
Shipaton is a mobile app hackathon hosted annually by RevenueCat, a platform that powers in-app purchases for apps. This year it showed that vibe coding is truly catching on.
Only 1,700 individuals participated last year, but this year the event attracted 54,000 participants. RevenueCat said the increase reflects how vibe coding is redefining — and expanding — who is an app developer.
“Vibecoders played a prominent role in the competition, with the Grand Prize going to Payout, an app completely produced through AI-assisted development using Claude Code and Cursor,” the company said in a prepared statement. Payout enables people to find class action lawsuits for which they qualify.
“AI tools are lowering the barrier to build and ship apps, but the fundamentals haven’t changed,” said Jacob Eiting, CEO of RevenueCat. “You still need to build something people love, use, and pay for — and that’s exactly what this year’s Shipaton winners did.”
Shipaton awards were granted by category and included:
- Best Vibes: Vibe coding platforms and tools are increasingly being used in app development. The winner, OtterDay, used Perplexity Pro for dialogue and visuals, KlingAI for otter animations, and ElevenLabs for voiceovers.
- Design: Visuals are key for engagement and the winners of this category specialize in aesthetic quality. DayLoop, an app that turns everyday moments into cinematic time-lapse videos, won for its precision, privacy and delight.
- Buzziest Launch: Whether or not an app makes a splash on day one can make or break its long-term success. ReadHim, geared toward decoding men’s texts, won first place in this category for an Instagram meme account that amassed over 5.2 million views, partnering with a TikTok influencer with over 2.3M followers, and executing a creative stunt complete with supercars and a robot dog.
- Apps That Make Money: Vibe coding makes launching apps easier than ever, but sustainable monetization still sets the best apart. VectorGuard was awarded for their top-tier app monetization strategy. With thoughtful design and fair monetization, they turn public data into public good.
Shipaton celebrates the freshly built projects, new launches and prototypes that are bringing unique products to users. RevenueCat also awards six Shippies to apps that have gone to the next level, not just launching but nailing every part of the subscription journey, from onboarding and monetization to retention and creativity. The 2025 Shippies awards went to Hank Green’s Focus Friend, Ladder, Resubs, Recime, Wink and WeWard.
Warp CLI Tool Expands AI Agent Capabilities
Warp is a modern, high-performance command-line terminal application designed for macOS, Linux, and Windows. This month, Warp expanded its AI agent capabilities with the launch of Agents 3.0.
The company’s goal with this release is to offer reliable, collaborative and fully autonomous development workflows within the terminal environment.
Among the new features is the Full Terminal Use, which allows the agent to interact with live processes and full-screen terminal apps like debuggers, which solves a major bottleneck for real-world development tasks.
The update also introduces structured, versioned development blueprints and Interactive Code Review for human oversight directly in the terminal.
