By the end of an AI planning conversation, the approach we abandoned can have a much longer explanation than the one we chose. We spent ages discussing it, after all.
That makes the whole conversation a slightly awkward set of instructions for writing the code.
I use one session to work out the plan, then a fresh session for each coding task. Preparing the handoff is tedious, but it makes me decide what the next session actually needs. Here’s the sort of brief I mean.
Imagine we’re adding name search to a customer list with several pages of results. Filtering the rows already on screen sounds simple. It also means a customer on page two won’t be found from page one. We choose to search on the server before splitting the results into pages.
“Add the search we discussed” leaves that decision behind. A handoff for this example could say:
Add name search to the existing customer list. Start with its current list view and the server endpoint it calls; keep the existing access rules.
Filter on the server before pagination. Clearing the search should restore the unfiltered first page.
We rejected filtering only the loaded rows because it would miss customers on other pages.
Check with a matching customer that would normally appear on page two. Searching from page one must find it. Then clear the search and check that the normal list returns.
The rejected approach gets one sentence, because its reason still matters. The coding session can see why the obvious shortcut would be wrong without reading our whole discussion of it. In a real task, I’d also link the relevant source files once planning had located them.
The brief gives review something useful too. A search box that filters the visible rows could look convincing in a quick demonstration. The customer on page two exposes the missing behaviour.
For me, starting a fresh session makes this handoff unavoidable. An obvious label fix needs much less ceremony. For work that took a proper planning conversation, I want the coding session to start with the decision we made. It shouldn’t have to sit through the meeting again.