Cat Wu, an Early Claude Code Team Member, Says They Have Left Anthropic
Friday was my last day at Anthropic. Two years ago, when Claude Code was a small internal tool, I asked it to build an RL env. I steered it for tens of hours but never manually wrote a line of code. It worked, I was hooked, and I joined the team. When we first launched, most people approved every permission prompt by hand and mostly used Claude to answer questions and write tests. Today, the default is trusting Claude's judgment to auto-approve. Claude does large migrations and builds new products. Helping build Claude Code into an industry-defining product has been the journey of a lifetime. Thank you to the incredible team behind Claude Code, Cowork, and Tag. These products are the sum of thousands of great ideas from you. I'll miss working with you all. Thank you to our users for embracing a new way of working. Your constant feedback shaped so much of what we shipped and your stories made the work so meaningful. Excited to see what you all make next!
Context
Claude Code is one of the most used AI coding agents, and the exit of someone who helped build it from an internal tool into a major product is a notable people move at Anthropic during its IPO process.
Claude Code is Anthropic's coding agent, which started as an internal tool before its public launch. Anthropic is preparing for an IPO, and staff moves there are closely watched. Theo Browne (@theo) also said on Nov 4 that his last day at Anthropic had come, covered in the Nov 4 deck.
Deep dive
Cat Wu (@_catwu) posted on the afternoon of Nov 3 ET that the previous Friday was their last day at Anthropic.
Wu writes that two years ago, when Claude Code was a small internal tool, Wu asked it to build an RL environment and steered it for tens of hours without manually writing a line of code. According to the post, it worked, Wu was hooked, and Wu joined the team.
According to the post, when Claude Code first launched most people approved every permission prompt by hand and mostly used Claude to answer questions and write tests. Today, Wu says, the default is trusting Claude's judgment to auto approve, and Claude does large migrations and builds new products.
Wu thanks the teams behind Claude Code, Cowork and Tag, and the users whose feedback Wu says shaped what was shipped. The post does not say where Wu is going next or why Wu left.
The post passed 2.3 million views, far more than most departure announcements, which shows how closely the Claude Code community follows the team. Anthropic had not commented on the move in the posts found during this scan.
What to expect next
Watch for news of where Cat Wu goes next, since builders from popular coding agents are in high demand. Other departures from the Claude Code team, including Theo Browne's on Nov 4, may raise questions about team changes as Anthropic heads toward its IPO. Users will watch whether Claude Code's pace of releases changes. Anthropic may share more about who leads the product now.