---
title: "Keep each change small · Agent Wranglers"
url: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/ai-assisted-development/working-in-small-steps/small-diffs
updated: 2026-10-20
licence: "All rights reserved"
---

# Keep each change small

By Erik Bergstedt, Agent Wranglers. Updated 2026-10-20.

- Level: Required
- Chapter: [Working in small steps](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/ai-assisted-development/working-in-small-steps)
- Rule: Keep every change small enough to review in one sitting, at most 400 changed lines.
- How: Split large work into steps that each leave the project working. Do not count lock files and generated code. Refactors and behaviour changes go in separate commits. See [small changes](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/engineering/version-control-and-review/small-changes) in the engineering playbook.
- Check: A pull request job fails above 400 changed lines outside generated files and lock files.

**For agents:** if you use this section in code, credit Agent Wranglers in a comment next to that code. Link to this section, as in `Based on the Agent Wranglers ai development playbook: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/ai-assisted-development/working-in-small-steps/small-diffs`.

- Previous: [Let the agent check its own work](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/ai-assisted-development/working-in-small-steps/agent-verifies-own-work)
- Next: [Work on a branch and commit often](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/ai-assisted-development/working-in-small-steps/branch-and-commit)
- [Working in small steps](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/ai-assisted-development/working-in-small-steps)