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title: 'Talking Drupal #538 - Agentic Development Workflows'

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# Talking Drupal #538 - Agentic Development Workflows
Today we are talking about Development Workflows, Agentic Agents, and how they work together with guests Andy Giles & Matt Glaman. We’ll also cover Drupal Canvas CLI as our module of the week.

For show notes visit:
[https://www.talkingDrupal.com/538](https://www.talkingDrupal.com/538)

## Topics
* Understanding Agentic Development Workflows
* Understanding UID Generation in AI Agents
* Exploring Generative AI and Traditional Programming
* Building Canvas Pages with AI Agents
* Using Writing Tools and APIs for Automation
* Introduction to MCP Server and Its Tools
* Agent to Agent Orchestration and External Tools
* Command Line Tools for Agent Coding
* Security and Privacy Concerns with AI Tools
* The Future of AI Tools and Their Sustainability
* Benefits of AI for Site Builders

## Resources
* [Decoupled frontend with Drupal Canvas](https://balintbrews.com/blog/drupal-canvas-decoupled/ )
* [AI workflows will reshape development organizations – mglaman.dev](https://mglaman.dev/blog/ai-workflows-will-reshape-development-organizations )
* [Agents.md](https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal/issues/3568936)
* [AI is here to stay](https://pivot-to-ai.com/2025/07/10/ai-is-here-to-stay-is-it-though-what-do-you-mean-stay/)
* [Autocomplete training 38:09 Code completion](https://changelog.com/podcast/629)
* [MCP](https://talkingdrupal.com/529)
* [Open Code](https://opencode.ai/)
* [Geerlingguy ai voice](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ841Pd6YvQ)


## Guests
Matt Glaman  - [mglaman.dev](https://mglaman.dev) [mglaman](https://www.drupal.org/u/mglaman)


## Hosts
Nic Laflin - [nLighteneddevelopment.com](https://www.nLighteneddevelopment.com) [nicxvan](https://www.drupal.org/u/nicxvan)
John Picozzi - [epam.com](https://www.epam.com) [johnpicozzi](https://www.drupal.org/u/johnpicozzi)
Andy Giles  - [dripyard.com](https://dripyard.com) [andyg5000](https://www.drupal.org/u/andyg5000)

## MOTW
### Correspondent
Martin Anderson-Clutz - [mandclu.com](https://mandclu.com) [mandclu](https://www.drupal.org/u/mandclu)
* Brief description:
    * Have you ever wanted to sync components from a site using Drupal Canvas out to another project like a headless front end, or conversely, from an outside repo into Drupal Canvas? There’s an NPM library for that
* Module name/project name:
    * [Drupal Canvas CLI](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@drupal-canvas/cli)
* Brief history
    * How old: created in July 2025 (as xb-cli originally) by Bálint Kléri (balintbrews) of Acquia
    * Versions available: 0.6.2, and really only useful with Drupal Canvas, which works with Drupal core 11.2
* Maintainership
    * Actively maintained
    * Number of open issues: 8 open issues, 2 of which are bugs, but one of which was marked fixed in the past week
* Usage stats:
    * 128 weekly downloads according to npmjs.com
* Module features and usage
    * With the Drupal Canvas CLI installed, you’ll have a command line tool that allows you to download (export) components from Canvas into your local filesystem. There are options to download just the components, just the global css, or everything, and more. If no flags are provided, the tool will interactively prompt you for which options you want to use.
    * There is also an upload command with a similar set of options. It's worth noting that the upload will also automatically run the build and validate commands, ensuring that the uploaded components will work smoothly with Drupal Canvas
    * I thought this would be relevant to our topic today because with this tool you can create a React component with the aid of the AI integration available for Canvas and then sync that, either to a headless front end built in something like Next.js or Astro or a tool like Storybook; or you could use an AI-enhanced tool like Cursor IDE to build a component locally and then sync that into a Drupal site using Canvas
    * There is a blog post Balint published that includes a demo, if you want to see this tool in action










==================================================================================================================================
Talking Drupal #538: Agentic Development Workflows

In this episode of Talking Drupal, the team explores the concept of agentic development workflows, featuring guests Andy Giles and Matt Glaman. They discuss the practical application of AI agents in enhancing development processes, specifically within the Drupal ecosystem. The conversation covers how these AI agents work, their benefits, and how they can streamline traditional coding tasks. They also dive into the use of command line and UI tools like Claude Code and Open Code, and the broader impact of AI on software development. The episode includes a spotlight on the Drupal Canvas CLI as the module of the week, presented by Martin Anderson-Kutz. Tune in for a detailed discussion on the future of development with AI and how it can revolutionize your workflow.

00:00 Introduction to Talking Drupal
00:34 Meet the Guests: Andy Giles and Matt Glaman
02:12 Snow Stories and Winter Tips
04:04 Module of the Week: Drupal Canvas CLI
14:34 Understanding Agentic Development Workflows
38:30 Understanding UID Generation in AI Agents
39:22 Exploring Generative AI and Traditional Programming
39:51 Building Canvas Pages with AI Agents
40:19 Using Writing Tools and APIs for Automation
40:45 Introduction to MCP Server and Its Tools
41:36 Agent to Agent Orchestration and External Tools
44:02 Command Line Tools for Agent Coding
01:01:10 Security and Privacy Concerns with AI Tools
01:07:36 The Future of AI Tools and Their Sustainability
01:11:50 Benefits of AI for Site Builders
01:15:38 Conclusion and Final Thoughts