Two engineers closely tied to Anthropic's Claude Code, Thariq Shihipar and Anthony Morris, announced on X on October 24 that they have left Anthropic. The exits come weeks before the company's reported target for a public listing, which could happen as early as mid-November.
Shihipar, a Member of Technical Staff on the Claude Code team, said he left after more than a year working on the coding agent. He was one of the product's most visible public voices on X and is associated with its skills system, context engineering and dynamic agent workflows. His team reportedly cut Claude Code's system prompt by roughly 80%.
In his post, Shihipar said he had watched Claude Code scale "larger than I ever imagined" and that he "really loved working at Ant," his shorthand for Anthropic. He added that he still believes in the company's mission, and he singled out the people he worked alongside.
“the most talented, thoughtful, competent, and earnest people I have ever met”— Thariq Shihipar, Former Claude Code engineer at Anthropic
Key facts
- 01Thariq Shihipar and Anthony Morris announced on X on Oct. 24, 2026 that they have left Anthropic.
- 02Shihipar worked on Claude Code for more than a year and is tied to its skills system and context engineering.
- 03Morris says he created Claude Code's desktop app; his last day was the day before his announcement.
- 04Neither engineer has named a next employer; Shihipar says he is taking a break first.
- 05Anthropic is reportedly targeting a listing as early as mid-November at a $1.8T to $2T valuation.
Shihipar said he plans to take a break before "diving into something new." He did not name a destination. A rumor on X that he had already been hired elsewhere is unconfirmed, and neither Shihipar nor Anthropic has said where he is headed. He pointed followers to other Claude Code voices to keep up with the product, including Lydia Hallie, Boris Cherny and the official ClaudeDevs account.
Morris described himself as the creator of Claude Code's desktop application and said his last day at Anthropic was the day before his announcement. He thanked the Claude Code community for the feedback that shaped the desktop app, and joked that he now has time for GTA VI. Morris has not said what he plans to do next.
“created Claude Code on desktop because I believe everyone can be a builder”— Anthony Morris, Creator of Claude Code's desktop app
Reaction on X was mostly warm. Hallie wrote that she will miss Shihipar's influence, and several developers said he was one of the main reasons they kept using Claude Code. A smaller group of posters read the exits as a warning sign for Anthropic, though nothing beyond the two engineers' own posts has been confirmed.
The timing puts the departures in Anthropic's pre-IPO window. The company confidentially filed for a US IPO in June and is reportedly targeting a valuation of $1.8 trillion to $2 trillion, which would make it the largest public offering ever, ahead of SpaceX's $75 billion raise earlier this year.
Anthropic has historically had low voluntary attrition, which has been partly attributed to limits on how employees can sell their shares while the company is private. A public listing would give vested employees a route to sell that equity.
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