Lessons learned on how to use AI agents effectively. In no particular order. Edited from time to time.
With agents, there should be no such thing as “tech debt”. An agent should simply pay down every bit of tech debt before presenting you with the “finished work”. Unlike humans, agent time is not very valuable; it can continue to work on something until it’s done, and shouldn’t make concessions assuming human constraints.
If an agent tells you that it’s “leaving something for later”, tell it to go finish it first before saying it’s done.
Example prompt (best if it is in your docs):
Do not leave any tech debt behind. If you have taken any shortcuts, go back and do them right. This is a hard acceptance criteria that must be completed before you are done.