4 ms·

You could just tell it to check out readme, but I suspect it would have checked it out anyway or figured out the type of project and how it is structured as a f

You could just tell it to check out readme, but I suspect it would have checked it out anyway or figured out the type of project and how it is structured as a first step of any other command you give it as without it it is impossible to add or update the project.

simonw 11mo ago
The most important thing is to have it successfully build the software, to prove to both me and itself that a clean compile is possible before making any further changes.
- deleted 11mo ago
  [deleted]
- adastra22 11mo ago
  Suggestion: make a “check.sh” script that builds everything, lints everything, and runs all (fast) tests. Add a directive in the agent system prompt to call it before & after doing anything. If it fails, it will investigate why.
  - alganet 11mo ago
    In situations like this is better to ask the agent to write a short document about how to run the project. Then you read it and delete useless parts. Then you ask the agent to follow that document and improve it until the software builds. By the final step, you get a personalized README.md for your needs.
cadamsdotcom 11mo ago
For a Rust developer, neglecting their ability to debug cargo build issues puts their career at risk. For someone like that, letting AI handle it would be a really shortsighted move. But Simon isn’t a Rust developer - he’s a motivated individual with a side project. He can now speedrun the part he’s not interested in. That doesn’t affect anyone else’s decisions, you can still choose to learn the details. Ability to skip it if you wish, is a huge win for everyone.
- risyachka 11mo ago
  >> He can now speedrun the part he’s not interested in In this case its more like slowrunning. Building rust project is 1 command and chatgpt will tell you this command in 5 seconds. Running an agent for that is 1000x more inefficient. At this point its not optimizing or speeding things up but running agent for the sake of running agent.
  - simonw 11mo ago
    The best thing about having an agent figure this out is you don't even need to be at your computer while it works. I was cooking dinner.
  - cadamsdotcom 11mo ago
    You’re not properly accounting for the risk of getting blocked on one of these 5 second tasks. Do an expected value calculation and things look very different. Across a day of doing these little “run one command” tasks, even getting blocked by one could waste an hour. That makes the expected value calculation of each single task tilt much more in favor of a hands off approach. Secondly, you’re not valuing the ability to take yourself out of the loop - especially when the task to be done by AI isn’t on the critical path, so it doesn’t matter if it takes 5 minutes or 5 milliseconds. Let AI run a few short commands while you go do something else that’ll definitely take longer than the difference - maybe a code review - and you’ve doubled your parallelism. These examples are situational and up to the individual to choose how they operate, and they don’t affect you or your decisions.
- antonvs 11mo ago
  > He can now speedrun the part he’s not interested in. The reductio that people tend to be concerned about is, what if someone is not interested in any aspect of software development, and just wants to earn money by doing it? The belief is that the consequences then start becoming more problematic.
  - simonw 11mo ago
    Those people are their own worst enemies. Some people will always look for ways to "cheat". I don't want to hold back everyone else just because a few people will harm themselves by using this stuff as a replacement for learning and developing themselves.

simonw 11mo ago

The most important thing is to have it successfully build the software, to prove to both me and itself that a clean compile is possible before making any further changes.

deleted 11mo ago
[deleted]
adastra22 11mo ago
Suggestion: make a “check.sh” script that builds everything, lints everything, and runs all (fast) tests. Add a directive in the agent system prompt to call it before & after doing anything. If it fails, it will investigate why.
- alganet 11mo ago
  In situations like this is better to ask the agent to write a short document about how to run the project. Then you read it and delete useless parts. Then you ask the agent to follow that document and improve it until the software builds. By the final step, you get a personalized README.md for your needs.

cadamsdotcom 11mo ago

For a Rust developer, neglecting their ability to debug cargo build issues puts their career at risk. For someone like that, letting AI handle it would be a really shortsighted move. But Simon isn’t a Rust developer - he’s a motivated individual with a side project. He can now speedrun the part he’s not interested in. That doesn’t affect anyone else’s decisions, you can still choose to learn the details. Ability to skip it if you wish, is a huge win for everyone.

risyachka 11mo ago
>> He can now speedrun the part he’s not interested in In this case its more like slowrunning. Building rust project is 1 command and chatgpt will tell you this command in 5 seconds. Running an agent for that is 1000x more inefficient. At this point its not optimizing or speeding things up but running agent for the sake of running agent.
- simonw 11mo ago
  The best thing about having an agent figure this out is you don't even need to be at your computer while it works. I was cooking dinner.
- cadamsdotcom 11mo ago
  You’re not properly accounting for the risk of getting blocked on one of these 5 second tasks. Do an expected value calculation and things look very different. Across a day of doing these little “run one command” tasks, even getting blocked by one could waste an hour. That makes the expected value calculation of each single task tilt much more in favor of a hands off approach. Secondly, you’re not valuing the ability to take yourself out of the loop - especially when the task to be done by AI isn’t on the critical path, so it doesn’t matter if it takes 5 minutes or 5 milliseconds. Let AI run a few short commands while you go do something else that’ll definitely take longer than the difference - maybe a code review - and you’ve doubled your parallelism. These examples are situational and up to the individual to choose how they operate, and they don’t affect you or your decisions.
antonvs 11mo ago
> He can now speedrun the part he’s not interested in. The reductio that people tend to be concerned about is, what if someone is not interested in any aspect of software development, and just wants to earn money by doing it? The belief is that the consequences then start becoming more problematic.
- simonw 11mo ago
  Those people are their own worst enemies. Some people will always look for ways to "cheat". I don't want to hold back everyone else just because a few people will harm themselves by using this stuff as a replacement for learning and developing themselves.