Feedback loops

Fast checks, review cycles, and ways to turn repeated feedback into durable guidance.

16 items in this guidance cluster.

Tagged guidance

Coding agentsCoding-agent guidance covers task setup, repo-owned context, tools, workspaces, verification, handoff proof, feedback loops, and maintainer review flow. It treats agents as workers in a system whose output should be reviewable, durable, and easy to integrate.

Budget for feedback loopsReserve enough time and tokens for checks, failure inspection, and handoff proof. Planning for the feedback loop keeps validation from being squeezed out after the first edit.Turn feedback into guidanceConvert repeated review corrections into rules, templates, snippets, or checks. Durable guidance fixes the workflow problem instead of requiring the same steering again.

Encode durable rules in lintsUse lint configuration for project policies stable enough to automate. Durable lints catch repeated mistakes without turning subjective taste into CI noise.

Keep slow checks out of PR CIKeep long fuzzing, exhaustive matrices, and noisy benchmarks out of required PR CI. Fast gates preserve review flow, while heavier checks belong in release or scheduled validation.Run fast format and lint gates earlyRun cheap format and lint gates early in the feedback loop. They remove mechanical failures quickly, but they do not replace validation of risky behavior.

Budget tokens for feedback loopsLong-running agent work can exhaust context before validation, review, or handoff happens. Reserve space for feedback loops by summarizing durable state and avoiding unnecessary transcript growth.Close the agent loopAgent work is incomplete when it stops at edits without checking the result or explaining residual risk. Finish the loop by validating, reporting evidence, and making the next human decision clear.Garbage collect agent driftAgent-generated notes, plans, and assumptions can outlive their usefulness and mislead later work. Periodically remove, update, or promote them so durable guidance stays current and temporary scaffolding does not become false context.Practice agent workoutsHigh-risk or repeated agent workflows are unreliable when first exercised during real work. Build safe practice tasks with explicit win conditions so the workflow, skill, or runbook can improve before pressure arrives.Record agent operating lessonsAgent work produces useful operational knowledge that is easy to lose after the task succeeds or fails. Record reusable lessons in the right durable place so future runs inherit the improved workflow instead of rediscovering it.Turn feedback into guidanceRepeated steering can expose missing, unclear, unreached, or ignored guidance. Diagnose the failure, fix the current artifact, and repair the instruction or delivery mechanism that should prevent recurrence.

Mechanize repeated feedbackRepeated corrections should become checks, templates, generators, lints, or reusable guidance when the pattern is stable. Mechanizing the feedback moves human attention back to judgment instead of recall.

Guidance generation and auditGenerators and audits keep rule indexes, compressed agent snippets, downstream templates, and Markdown synchronized. The checks catch recurring drift so review attention stays on judgment instead of mechanical bookkeeping.Testing and benchmarkingTest, feature-matrix, fuzzing, property, and benchmark tools should be chosen by risk and feedback cost. This mechanism helps match validation depth to the behavior, integration surface, or performance claim under review.

Coding agent workflow instructionsCompact workflow instructions for repositories that delegate implementation or review work to coding agents. The snippet emphasizes objectives, boundaries, durable handoff, repo-owned context, and feedback that becomes reusable guidance.