CHAPTER 06 / 13 · READ → DECIDE → BUILD

Give your agent a reliable workspace.

Prepare a reproducible repository and phases with clear completion evidence.

15 min + practiceA repository guide and build planJump to practice ↓

Inspect before changing

Ask the agent to identify the framework, installed versions, project instructions, and available checks. Have it cite actual paths rather than guessing. Establish a baseline by running the existing checks. If something already fails, record it before feature work starts. Preserve unrelated edits. A useful agent brief states the intended behavior, relevant files, boundaries, and what counts as verified completion.

Keep configuration reproducible

Commit dependency manifests and lockfiles according to the repository's conventions. Provide an example environment file containing variable names and safe placeholders, never live secrets. Keep test data isolated. Document the exact local run and check commands after verifying them in your project. A setup note should help another person reproduce the environment, including service prerequisites that are not installed by the package manager.

Build in phases you can review

Use your PRD and technical design to order work: baseline and setup, data rules, identity, one vertical slice, verification, and release rehearsal. Testing should accompany each risky change rather than being deferred to the end. Give every phase a concrete exit condition. If the database rule is still unverified, a polished frontend cannot make that foundation complete.

SEE THE DIFFERENCE

A small example. A better decision.

THE INITIAL APPROACH

Implement the whole PRD and tell me when it is ready.

THE MORE USEFUL APPROACH

Phase one: make the task list read synthetic records. Show the changed files and the checks you ran. Complete that slice before implementing claims.

A bounded phase produces work you can inspect and a specific point at which to correct direction.

Your build steps

Run your repository's documented baseline checks.
Add a concise setup guide and environment-variable example.
Give your agent focused repository instructions based on real conventions.
Write phases with an outcome, relevant checks, and a stop condition for each.

FROM THE PROMPT LIBRARY

A useful brief for this step.

Orient an agent in an unfamiliar repository ↗Reduces changes based on guessed project structure.Write a focused agent instruction file ↗Gives repeatable guidance without flooding every task with irrelevant rules.Break delivery into verified phases ↗Stops an agent from building everything before discovering a broken foundation.All repository & planning prompts

MAKE THE CALL

Think like the reviewer.

A check already fails before your feature change. How should you handle it?Record the baseline failure and distinguish it from new regressions.Delete the check so the next run is green.Report all checks passed because the failure was pre-existing.

BUILD YOUR WORKBOOK

A repository guide and build plan

0/3 notes ready

Use the lesson and your project evidence. Your workbook saves privately; keep credentials and private records out. The checks below assess completion of the exercise, not the correctness of an external app.

1. Verified run and check commandsAdd a specific note of at least 20 characters.2. First three delivery phasesAdd a specific note of at least 20 characters.3. Agent brief and boundariesAdd a specific note of at least 20 characters.

Before moving on

I recorded baseline failures separately from new work.My configuration example contains no real credentials.Every phase has a concrete completion check.

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