#1 Write long prompts
When I start working on a new feature, I write long prompts. I tell a story. It’s like delegating a task to a teammate. Give them enough context to do a great job.
#2 Ask AI to summarize
When I get back to a project after a few days I ask AI to summarize it for me. Helpful for both of us.
#3 Assume you weren’t clear enough
When AI makes a mistake, I assume I wasn’t being clear enough. I explain things once again in a long prompt. I give it more context than what feels necessary.
Spend that extra 30 seconds writing a more detailed prompt to get great results. Yesterday I started working on a new feature and wrote a 1000-word prompt by hand to get started.
#5 AI can read between the lines
AI can read between the lines.…
#1 Write long prompts
When I start working on a new feature, I write long prompts. I tell a story. It’s like delegating a task to a teammate. Give them enough context to do a great job.
#2 Ask AI to summarize
When I get back to a project after a few days I ask AI to summarize it for me. Helpful for both of us.
#3 Assume you weren’t clear enough
When AI makes a mistake, I assume I wasn’t being clear enough. I explain things once again in a long prompt. I give it more context than what feels necessary.
Spend that extra 30 seconds writing a more detailed prompt to get great results. Yesterday I started working on a new feature and wrote a 1000-word prompt by hand to get started.
#5 AI can read between the lines
AI can read between the lines. I recommend writing long well-thought-out prompts both because of what they communicate and meta-communicate. Your use of words, the amount of airtime you give to some problems over other, you explicitly describing something as tricky - all those clues are picked up by AI and reflected in code.
#6 Read every line of code
Read every line of AI output and code. It’s time well spent. You’re saving loads of time anyway.
#7 Don’t let AI explore on its own
Don’t let AI figure things out on its own or “explore the codebase”. Point it to specific files, classes, functions by their names. You save time, tokens and context. And you put your mind closer to the code. All it takes is an extra 5 seconds of typing.
#8 Use adjectives!
Use adjectives! Want your UI to be “clean modern Apple-like”? Say it! Want the feature to be “complex, detailed and with a sophisticated user in mind”? Say it!
#9 Let AI evaluate its own results
Let the AI evaluate its own results! Implementing an LLM-based feature? Have the AI use it and refine in a loop based on your story of what makes the feature great.
#10 Read, understand and review
It’s your job to read, understand and review all the code!
#11 AI coding is your friend
AI coding is your friend. Your job is to make great things with it. Your job is not to prove to yourself and everyone else that AI coding is useless.