HumanLayer

HumanLayer builds an AI coding IDE and collaboration platform for engineering teams working in complex codebases. Teams can organize agent sessions, worktrees, research, and implementation plans around shared tasks, with design comments feeding directly back to agents. Engineers bring existing Claude, Codex, or other supported subscriptions and API keys, and run agents locally or in the cloud for background work.

Founded in 2023 by CEO Dexter Horthy, HumanLayer later added Kyle Mistele as cofounder and CTO. Its original human-approval tooling for agents expanded into coding tools, including the CodeLayer private beta in 2025. Its Research/Plan/Implement approach structures coding around codebase research, reviewed plans, and execution, compacting context into reusable artifacts with human checkpoints. Its 12 Factor Agents guide also advocates explicit control over prompts, context, and execution, with small, focused agents and human intervention.

As of August 2026, the company reported that thousands of engineers had used its open-source workflows and that its users ranged from YC startups to Fortune 500 companies. It also reported more than $3 million in cumulative funding from Y Combinator, Pioneer Fund, and angels. Its commercial offering combines a free tier for teams of up to three with paid individual and team plans, plus enterprise options for SSO, audit logs, and private deployment.