[Dev Catch Up # 96] - Claude's Cowork, ChatGPT Translate, Google's Universal Commerce Protocol,Gemini's Personal Intelligence, Claude HUD, Top Developer Tools 2026, Anthropic's sandbox-runtime & more!
Bringing devs up to speed on the latest dev news from the trends including, a bunch of exciting developments and articles
Welcome to the 96th edition of DevShorts, Dev Catch Up.
For those who joined recently or are reading Dev Catch Up for the first time, I write about developer stories and open source, partly based on my work and experience interacting with people all over the globe.
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Must Read
Anthropic has launched Claude Cowork. When developers started using Claude Code, they did more than code. They used it for document analysis, report writing, and more. Anthropic saw this and shipped Cowork. You pick a folder and describe the task. Cowork can handle the rest with more autonomy than normal chat. Check Claude’s Cowork for more details.
OpenAI launched ChatGPT Translate. It is a standalone translation tool that feels close to Google Translate. It still misses features like document upload, website translation, and more. Language support also seems smaller for now. Try ChatGPT Translate to see its features.
Google launched Universal Commerce Protocol. It is a new open standard for AI shopping, from search to checkout and support. Google plans to bring UCP powered checkout into the Gemini app soon, so users can buy inside the chat. Check Google’s UCP to know more details.
We all use Git. But many of us do not know how it works inside. This deep dive explains how Git tracks changes without using huge storage. It also shows what happens during add, commit, and branch. Check this Substack post on How Git Works Internally to know more details.
OSS Highlight of the Week
This week we are featuring Claude HUD. It is a Claude Code plugin that shows what is happening while Claude runs. It displays context usage, active tools, running agents, and todo progress right below your input. Check the Claude HUD GitHub repo to know more.
Good to know
ByteByteGo shared a simple map of top developer tools for 2026. It lists common developer tools, like editors, Git, testing, CI CD, containers, and project boards. It also adds api testing and ai coding tools. Handy if you are updating your stack or onboarding a new team.
Anthropic has introduced Labs. It is a team that ships experimental features and then scales what works. Anthropic says this approach helped Claude Code move from a research preview to a billion dollar product in six months. Check Anthropic’s Labs post for more details.
As your app grows, the database is often the first thing to slow down. I came across a Substack post that explains why databases are hard to scale. It also explains sharding, and how splitting data across servers can help. Check the substack post on Database Sharding to know more details.
Cursor shared what happens when you run hundreds of coding agents for weeks. They used planners, workers, and a judge loop to keep the work on track. One run built a working web browser from scratch, and other runs shipped huge codebase tasks too. Check Cursor’s blog on Scaling long-running autonomous coding for more details.
Apple will use Google’s Gemini models to power a new Siri upgrade coming this year. It is a multi year deal, and it is Apple’s biggest AI bet yet after the Siri upgrade delays. Check the joint statement from Google and Apple for more details.
Notable FYIs
Anthropic open sourced Sandbox Runtime. It is a research preview built for Claude Code to make agent runs safer. It can limit a process from accessing your files and network, without using a container. Check Anthropic’s Sandbox Runtime for more details.
Google launched Personal Intelligence for Gemini. It connects Gmail, Photos and Search. You can now ask about your inbox, photos, or search history and get a personal answer. Google says your inbox and photo library data will not be used for training. It rolls out first in the US for Pro and Ultra users. Check Gemini’s Personal Intelligence for more details.
If you spend too much time finding the right Claude Code skills, try SkillIssue. It helps you find and pick the right skills from different marketplaces. It also explains why each one fits and gives install steps you can copy and run. Check SkillIssue for Claude for more details.
Slack rebuilt Slackbot as an AI agent for work. It uses the messages and files you already can access, and it follows the same permissions. It can help you catch up fast, pull decisions, and draft content in your voice. Check Slackbot for more detail.
Google updated MedGemma with MedGemma 1.5. It adds better support for medical imaging. They also released MedASR, an open medical speech to text model. Check MedGemma 1.5 and MedASR if you are working on healthcare use-cases.
That’s it from us with this edition. We hope you are going away with a ton of new information. Lastly, share this newsletter with your colleagues and pals if you find it valuable. A subscription to the newsletter will be awesome if you are reading it for the first time.
Excellent roundup of developer tooling shifts. The point about database sharding timing is spot-on, most teams wait untill they hit performance walls instead of planning for horizontal scalability early. I've seen that play out where splitting data across servers becomes way more complex when you're doing it under pressure with live traffic. The Claude HUD plugin is intresting too becuase it makes agent behavior transparent, which is critical when debugging multi-step workflows.