news.ycombinator.com• May 7, 2026• 1 min read
The bounded process: agent-assisted codingI recently had a project owner ask me about my process using agent-assisted development. Here’s a tightened version of my response.Phase 1I point Claude to the GitHub repo issue number and ask it to define a statement of work — a concept statement plus a task checklist. It analyzes the codebase and returns a series of tasks. I prefer small, well-bounded issues, especially when I’m new to the codebase. We work through the list until we have a first pass, then I walk through the code in VSCode.Phase 2 — IterationEach cycle follows the same pattern: work order, my review, repeat.- Magic numbers or unwarranted assumptions? - DRY violations or multiple sources of truth? - Idiomatic naming for functions, variables, and constants? - Correct scoping throughout? - Stale, unnecessary, or inaccurate comments? - Is the uncommitted code well-structured?Phase 3 — Code SmellsI ask Claude to hunt for code smells. Three passes minimum, four or five if I’m not satisfied. Same cycle as above.Phase 4 — St