Ask HN: How are you automating your coding work? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: How are you automating your coding work?

#51

Post by randomNumber7 » Wed, Jan 21, 2026, 9:40 PM UTC

zero_shift wrote: post #40

I actually kind of do the opposite to most developers. Instead of having it write the code, I try to use it like a pair reviewer, critiquing as I go. I ask it questions like "is it safe to pass null here", "can this function panic?", etc. Or I'll ask it for opinions when I second guess my design choices. Sometimes I just want an authoritative answer to tell me my instincts are right. So it becomes more like an extra…

Idk what models you are using. I'm pretty sure I tried the best avialable and arguing with them about pointers in non trivial cases seems like a recipe for disaster.

> Sometimes I just want an authoritative answer to tell me my instincts are right.

You realize that LLM answers highly depend on how you frame your question?

Re: Ask HN: How are you automating your coding work?

#52

Post by randomNumber7 » Wed, Jan 21, 2026, 9:42 PM UTC

mjr00 wrote: post #23

If I know what I want to code and it's a purely mechanical exercise to code it, I'll just tell Claude what to do and it does it. Pretty neat. When I don't know what I want to do, I read existing code, think about it, and figure it out. Sometimes I'll sketch out ideas by writing code, then when I have something I like I'll get Claude to take my sketch as an example and having it go forward. The big mistake I see peopl…

If you see a good parking lot, look for a better one. - Mikhail Tal

Re: Ask HN: How are you automating your coding work?

#53

Post by geiser » Wed, Jan 21, 2026, 9:44 PM UTC

I prepare custom AGENTS.md with the help of https://lynxprompt.com (Disclaimer: I'm the dev)

The more time you spend making guidelines and guardrails, the more success the LLM has at acing your prompt. There I created a wizard to get it right from the beginning, simplifying and "guiding" you into thinking what you want to achieve.

Re: Ask HN: How are you automating your coding work?

#54

Post by Exoristos » Wed, Jan 21, 2026, 9:56 PM UTC

randomNumber7 wrote: post #51

zero_shift wrote: post #40

I actually kind of do the opposite to most developers. Instead of having it write the code, I try to use it like a pair reviewer, critiquing as I go. I ask it questions like "is it safe to pass null here", "can this function panic?", etc. Or I'll ask it for opinions when I second guess my design choices. Sometimes I just want an authoritative answer to tell me my instincts are right. So it becomes more like an extra…

Idk what models you are using. I'm pretty sure I tried the best avialable and arguing with them about pointers in non trivial cases seems like a recipe for disaster. > Sometimes I just want an authoritative answer to tell me my instincts are right. You realize that LLM answers highly depend on how you frame your question?

They also depend on several categories of chance circumstance.

Re: Ask HN: How are you automating your coding work?

#55

Post by onlyrealcuzzo » Wed, Jan 21, 2026, 10:04 PM UTC

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #12

For my real work? It has not been helpful so far. For side projects? It's been a 10x+ multiplier.

I will add that it seems:

1. The context window size to output accuracy problem seems like a genuinely hard problem

2. The vast majority of resources are being poured into driving down costs, not increasing output accuracy (and definitely not on gigantic context windows)

I will also add:

* I'm astounded at how terrible LLMs are at writing assembly in my experience. This seems like something they should excel at. So I'm genuinely confused on that piece.

Re: Ask HN: How are you automating your coding work?

#56

Post by toddmorrow » Wed, Jan 21, 2026, 10:18 PM UTC

I'm using a modified version of open Dev. it's just a chat interface for open router. I load a combo box of all the free models. it's fast and it's on a tab where it can't hurt my code

Re: Ask HN: How are you automating your coding work?

#57

Post by jasondigitized » Wed, Jan 21, 2026, 10:56 PM UTC

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #55

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #12

For my real work? It has not been helpful so far. For side projects? It's been a 10x+ multiplier.

I will add that it seems: 1. The context window size to output accuracy problem seems like a genuinely hard problem 2. The vast majority of resources are being poured into driving down costs, not increasing output accuracy (and definitely not on gigantic context windows) I will also add: * I'm astounded at how terrible LLMs are at writing assembly in my experience. This seems like something they should excel at. So I…

How much Assembly is posted in public repos?

Re: Ask HN: How are you automating your coding work?

#58

Post by theturtletalks » Wed, Jan 21, 2026, 11:54 PM UTC

Instead of building features from scratch, I basically rebuilt my open-source alternatives project[0] from five years ago to track features right in the code itself. So if you spot an open-source project with a feature you want in your app, you can create a "skill" that points exactly to where it lives: specific files, functions, modules, plus docs and notes. This turns OSS into a modular cookbook you can pull from across stacks.

AI excels at finding the "seams," those spots where a feature connects to the underlying tech stack, and figuring out how the feature is really implemented. You might think just asking Claude or Cursor to grab a feature from a repo works, but in practice they often miss pieces because key code can be scattered in unexpected places. Our skills fix that by giving structured, complete guides so the AI ports it accurately. For example, if an e-commerce platform has payments built in and you need payments in your software, you can reference the exact implementation and adapt it reliably.

[0] https://github.com/junaid33/opensource.builders

Re: Ask HN: How are you automating your coding work?

#59

Post by onlyrealcuzzo » Thu, Jan 22, 2026, 12:22 AM UTC

jasondigitized wrote: post #57

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I will add that it seems: 1. The context window size to output accuracy problem seems like a genuinely hard problem 2. The vast majority of resources are being poured into driving down costs, not increasing output accuracy (and definitely not on gigantic context windows) I will also add: * I'm astounded at how terrible LLMs are at writing assembly in my experience. This seems like something they should excel at. So I…

How much Assembly is posted in public repos?

I can't imagine less than millions of lines...

Re: Ask HN: How are you automating your coding work?

#60

Post by jason_s » Thu, Jan 22, 2026, 12:32 AM UTC

cadamsdotcom wrote: post #25

The biggest principle is codification. Codify everything. For instance, this skill of web development: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vercel-labs/web-interface-... That’s too much for a model to carry in its context while it’s trying to do actual work. Far better is to give that skill.md to a model and have it produce several hundred lines of code with a shebang at the top. Now you haven’t got a skill, you’ve got…

> have it produce several hundred lines of code with a shebang at the top.

Am I the only one who worries about agents creating malicious/unsafe code to execute?