Comment by mark_l_watson

For what it is worth, I do the same thing you do with local models: I have a few scripts that build prompts from my directions and the contents of one or more local source files. I start a local run and get some exercise, then return later for the results.

I own my computer, it is energy efficient Apple Silicon, and it is fun and feels good to do practical work in a local environment and be able to switch to commercial APIs for more capable models and much faster inference when I am in a hurry or need better models.

Off topic, but: I cringe when I see social media posts of people running many simultaneous agentic coding systems and spending a fortune in money and environmental energy costs. Maybe I just have ancient memories from using assembler language 50 years ago to get maximum value from hardware but I still believe in getting maximum utilization from hardware and wanting to be at least the ‘majority partner’ in AI agentic enhanced coding sessions: save tokens by thinking more on my own and being more precise in what I ask for.