Pictures and multistep work
Meituan’s LongCat team introduced version 2.5 on November 1 for image understanding and longer coding tasks. The examples are the company’s demonstrations, not independent tests. [1]
The team calls this agentic work: an AI system using tools and working through several steps toward a result, rather than simply answering a question in chat. That distinction matters when the goal is a working project, rather than a convincing-looking reply.
What is available
LongCat's November 2 API changelog lists the model as available. An API is a software connection that lets an app send requests to a model. We have not made a live request or checked account eligibility. [2]
The announcement still labels its GitHub and Hugging Face releases as coming soon. It also has a public Try it link, but we have not verified which model, features, or accounts that link serves. [1]
For a developer, the API listing and a downloadable model are different access paths. Before planning a local installation, wait until you can inspect the actual 2.5 files and their license.
Our take
A small, checkable job is more useful than an impressive demo when deciding whether a coding assistant fits your work. For example, use a fictional screenshot-to-webpage task: does it preserve the wording, make the buttons work, and leave your starting files intact? Review the finished result before connecting it to real work. Visual resemblance and a confident summary are not enough to show the job is finished.