OPEN LINK ↗
// 74d agoTUTORIAL
OpenCode, Qwen3.5 build Python app on M4 Mini
A developer used OpenCode, an open-source terminal AI coding agent, paired with Qwen3.5-9B-4bit running locally via MLX LM Server on a Mac Mini M4 24GB to autonomously plan, build, and test a Python CLI app in 16 minutes. The result held up favorably against cloud-based tools like Amazon Q.
// ANALYSIS
Local AI coding agents are closing the gap with cloud tools faster than most expected — a $600 Mac Mini M4 is now a credible autonomous coding machine.
- –OpenCode's model-agnostic TUI worked seamlessly with a local Qwen3.5-9B-4bit model via MLX LM Server, no cloud dependency required
- –16 minutes end-to-end for plan-build-test is slower than GPT-4o-backed tools but competitive for a fully offline, privacy-preserving setup
- –Qwen3.5-9B at 4-bit quantization fits comfortably in 24GB unified memory, making M4 Mac Mini a practical local dev workstation
- –The comparison to Amazon Q suggests local open-weights models are viable replacements for enterprise coding assistants in routine tasks
// TAGS
opencodeai-codingagentcliopen-sourceself-hostedllm
DISCOVERED
74d ago
2026-03-14
PUBLISHED
74d ago
2026-03-14
RELEVANCE
6/ 10
AUTHOR
planemsg