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  "articleBody": "The key skill required to make productive use of coding agents is being able to confidently instruct them on how to make changes and then confidently verify that those changes have been applied in the correct way.\n\nSometimes this involves reviewing every line of code they have written, but there are other ways to achieve that goal. Eyeballing every line of code has never been the most effective way to validate a change to a piece of software.\n\nPosted [22nd August 2026](https://simonwillison.net/2026/Aug/22/) at 3:56 pm\n\n## Recent articles\n\n- [Claude's new system prompt really doesn't want to reproduce song lyrics](https://simonwillison.net/2026/Sep/2/claudes-new-system-prompt/) - 2nd September 2026\n- [Claude Fable 5.1 made me a really nice animated pelican](https://simonwillison.net/2026/Sep/1/claude-fable-5-1/) - 1st September 2026\n- [Understanding ChatGPT Work](https://simonwillison.net/2026/Aug/30/understanding-chatgpt-work/) - 30th August 2026\n\nThis is a **note** by Simon Willison, posted on [22nd August 2026](https://simonwillison.net/2026/Aug/22/).\n\n[code-review 15](https://simonwillison.net/tags/code-review/) [ai 2,214](https://simonwillison.net/tags/ai/) [generative-ai 1,962](https://simonwillison.net/tags/generative-ai/) [llms 1,929](https://simonwillison.net/tags/llms/) [coding-agents 243](https://simonwillison.net/tags/coding-agents/) [agentic-engineering 60](https://simonwillison.net/tags/agentic-engineering/)\n\n### Monthly briefing\n\nSponsor me for **$10/month** and get a curated email digest of the month's most important LLM developments.\n\nPay me to send you less!\n\n[Sponsor & subscribe](https://github.com/sponsors/simonw/)\n",
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  "captured_at": "2026-09-04T12:14:41.802665207+00:00",
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  "content_html": "<p>The key skill required to make productive use of coding agents is being able to confidently instruct them on how to make changes and then confidently verify that those changes have been applied in the correct way.</p>\n<p>Sometimes this involves reviewing every line of code they have written, but there are other ways to achieve that goal. Eyeballing every line of code has never been the most effective way to validate a change to a piece of software.</p>\n<p>Posted <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https://simonwillison.net/2026/Aug/22/\">22nd August 2026</a> at 3:56 pm</p>\n<h2>Recent articles</h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https://simonwillison.net/2026/Sep/2/claudes-new-system-prompt/\">Claude's new system prompt really doesn't want to reproduce song lyrics</a> - 2nd September 2026</li>\n<li><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https://simonwillison.net/2026/Sep/1/claude-fable-5-1/\">Claude Fable 5.1 made me a really nice animated pelican</a> - 1st September 2026</li>\n<li><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https://simonwillison.net/2026/Aug/30/understanding-chatgpt-work/\">Understanding ChatGPT Work</a> - 30th August 2026</li>\n</ul>\n<p>This is a <strong>note</strong> by Simon Willison, posted on <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https://simonwillison.net/2026/Aug/22/\">22nd August 2026</a>.</p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https://simonwillison.net/tags/code-review/\">code-review 15</a> <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https://simonwillison.net/tags/ai/\">ai 2,214</a> <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https://simonwillison.net/tags/generative-ai/\">generative-ai 1,962</a> <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https://simonwillison.net/tags/llms/\">llms 1,929</a> <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https://simonwillison.net/tags/coding-agents/\">coding-agents 243</a> <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https://simonwillison.net/tags/agentic-engineering/\">agentic-engineering 60</a></p>\n<h3>Monthly briefing</h3>\n<p>Sponsor me for <strong>$10/month</strong> and get a curated email digest of the month's most important LLM developments.</p>\n<p>Pay me to send you less!</p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https://github.com/sponsors/simonw/\">Sponsor &amp; subscribe</a></p>\n",
  "content_markdown": "The key skill required to make productive use of coding agents is being able to confidently instruct them on how to make changes and then confidently verify that those changes have been applied in the correct way.\n\nSometimes this involves reviewing every line of code they have written, but there are other ways to achieve that goal. Eyeballing every line of code has never been the most effective way to validate a change to a piece of software.\n\nPosted [22nd August 2026](https://simonwillison.net/2026/Aug/22/) at 3:56 pm\n\n## Recent articles\n\n- [Claude's new system prompt really doesn't want to reproduce song lyrics](https://simonwillison.net/2026/Sep/2/claudes-new-system-prompt/) - 2nd September 2026\n- [Claude Fable 5.1 made me a really nice animated pelican](https://simonwillison.net/2026/Sep/1/claude-fable-5-1/) - 1st September 2026\n- [Understanding ChatGPT Work](https://simonwillison.net/2026/Aug/30/understanding-chatgpt-work/) - 30th August 2026\n\nThis is a **note** by Simon Willison, posted on [22nd August 2026](https://simonwillison.net/2026/Aug/22/).\n\n[code-review 15](https://simonwillison.net/tags/code-review/) [ai 2,214](https://simonwillison.net/tags/ai/) [generative-ai 1,962](https://simonwillison.net/tags/generative-ai/) [llms 1,929](https://simonwillison.net/tags/llms/) [coding-agents 243](https://simonwillison.net/tags/coding-agents/) [agentic-engineering 60](https://simonwillison.net/tags/agentic-engineering/)\n\n### Monthly briefing\n\nSponsor me for **$10/month** and get a curated email digest of the month's most important LLM developments.\n\nPay me to send you less!\n\n[Sponsor & subscribe](https://github.com/sponsors/simonw/)\n",
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  "description": "The key skill required to make productive use of coding agents is being able to confidently instruct them on how to make changes and then confidently verify that those changes have been applied in the correct way. Sometimes this involves…",
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  "summary": "The key skill required to make productive use of coding agents is being able to confidently instruct them on how to make changes and then confidently verify that those changes have been applied in the correct way. Sometimes this involves reviewing every line of code they have written, but there are other ways to achieve that goal. Eyeballing every line of code has never been the most effective way to validate a change to a piece of software. Tags: code-review, coding-agents, generative-ai, agentic-engineering, ai, llms",
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    "code-review",
    "coding-agents",
    "generative-ai",
    "llms"
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  "title": "More than just code review",
  "url": "https://aggr.aymericbeaumet.com/items/simonwillison-net/2026-08-22-more-than-just-code-review/",
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