I feel this post. I am tired of "directing" agents when in reality it feels more like trying to herd a group of toddlers.
Sure they can mostly write better code than a toddler but this constant nudging and reminding and reiterating and stopping them from using the token budget of the whole company for a one off script. It gets tiring and I feel like I am losing brain power while doing it. Maybe it's faster but explosive diarrhea is also a faster way to produce shit.
I review all the agentic code and commit it myself. I also write some features manually, especially when I want to really make sure that I don't screw up. E.g. for authentication or for observability.
I also found that slowing down your development (just by a bit!) on purpose helps. Do not rush into implementing your new idea and give yourself at least a couple of days to think it through.
BadBadJellyBean · · focus · HN ↗
Sure they can mostly write better code than a toddler but this constant nudging and reminding and reiterating and stopping them from using the token budget of the whole company for a one off script. It gets tiring and I feel like I am losing brain power while doing it. Maybe it's faster but explosive diarrhea is also a faster way to produce shit.
cyberax · · focus · HN ↗
I also found that slowing down your development (just by a bit!) on purpose helps. Do not rush into implementing your new idea and give yourself at least a couple of days to think it through.