AI-assisted development playbook

An AI-assisted development playbook for any team that builds with coding agents. It works the same for terminal agents, editor agents and app builders, such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Copilot, Lovable, Bolt, Replit and v0.

Agents write code fast, and they copy what they see. They also make confident mistakes, skip steps and follow instructions hidden in the content they read. These rules keep the speed and catch the mistakes before they reach users.

Start with Setting up the project. It gives every agent the same instructions and one command that says whether its work is right. Then read Reviewing agent output, because a person still signs off every change. Before an agent runs without you watching, read Safety and permissions.

Chapters

1. Setting up the project

   Before an agent writes a line, give it short instructions, one command that checks everything, and code small enough to read in one pass.

   • Required 3
   • Recommended 1

2. Working in small steps

   Plan before code, give each task clear acceptance criteria, keep every change small, and commit on a branch so any step can be undone.

   • Required 5
   • Recommended 2

3. Rules the agent cannot break

   Agents forget instructions, so turn every rule that matters into a linter, test, build gate or hook that stops the work when it is broken.

   • Required 2
   • Recommended 1

4. Reviewing agent output

   A person reads every change an agent makes, runs it, and checks for invented packages, weakened checks and changes outside the task before it ships.

   • Required 5
   • Recommended 2

5. Safety and permissions

   Run agents in a sandbox with the fewest rights they need, keep production out of reach, and treat everything they read as possibly hostile.

   • Required 9
   • Recommended 1

6. Apps built with AI builders

   App builders such as Lovable, Bolt, Replit and v0 ship working apps fast. Lock down the database, keep keys server-side and own the code.

   • Required 4
   • Recommended 2

7. Context and memory

   Agents only know what they are given. Keep instructions short and current, show good examples and point agents to documents they can trust.

   • Required 2
   • Recommended 3
   • Optional 1

8. Measuring and improving

   Track what agents get wrong, add a check for every repeated mistake, measure delivery, and keep a person's sign-off before every release.

   • Required 2
   • Recommended 4

All 49 rules on one page