The sed -i That Worked on Linux and Stalled on My iMac: Checking an Agent's Steps Before You Run Them
A sed -i step that ran fine on Linux can stall on a Mac or leave backup files behind. Here is what I reproduced with GNU sed, the forms that behave the same on both, and a short check to run first.
I Added pipefail and a Passing Check Turned Red: The False Failure That Starts Once Output Passes 8 KB
Adding pipefail can turn a passing check red. I reproduced the false failure that appears once output passes 8 KB on 1,122 files, then built a file-based runner and a canary.
The Day I Stopped Splitting by Skill — Three Questions for Routing Work Between Antigravity CLI and Claude Code
An unattended job sat waiting on an approval prompt for three days without a single error line. Here is how I stopped dividing work between two agent CLIs by capability, and started dividing it by where the approval boundary falls.
I count the posts three times before flipping a WordPress host migration
The copy-complete notice from a shared host is a snapshot taken when the copy started, not when it finished. Here is the full enumeration I run before the cutover, and where I stop delegating.
Write Hundreds of Files in One Burst, or Space Them Out?
When an agent generates hundreds of files, the slowness usually is not the writing. It is the rescans on the watcher side. I measured four write patterns so you can decide where to batch.
When a Subagent Never Finishes, Look at the Parent's Unapproved Artifacts First
A subagent that runs all night and never returns is usually not the one that is stuck. Here is how I separate a blocked parent from a blocked child using a short log-scanning script, what the official docs say about approvals, and where I stop letting approvals happen automatically.
I Asked the Agent to Pick Tests From My Diff and It Said "None" Nine Times Out of Ten
Change-based test selection returned zero tests for most edits. Measuring how far an import graph actually reaches across three repositories, and rebuilding the selection contract around it.
Seven Characters Don't Only Point at Commits — Measuring When Your Agent's Recorded Hashes Stop Resolving
Short commit hashes recorded by an agent quietly stop resolving as a repository grows. Measuring where ambiguity begins, fixing the recording side, and building a batch verification gate.
Three Tools Named read_file: Catching MCP Name Collisions Before Startup
Bundle enough MCP servers and tool names collide quietly. Here is what a real 5-server, 21-tool setup measured at 43% collision, plus a Python preflight that catches them before startup and assigns deterministic aliases.
The More I Wrote in AGENTS.md, the Less Got Followed — Measuring Adherence and Cutting Rules
The rules in my AGENTS.md were being ignored — not from precedence conflicts or load failures, just plain ignored. Here is how I turned rules into checkable predicates, measured adherence over three weeks, and cut the file in half.
When Your Agent's Commits Pick Up Junk Files: Fixing It With Staging Scope and a Message Convention
Agents tend to run git add -A, sweeping .bak files and caches into your history, and leave a one-word message. Here is how a staging allowlist, a preflight, and a fill-in message template stop it.
Where Context Should Live — Routing It Across Persistent, Per-Task, and In-the-Moment Layers
Antigravity 2.0's /btw lets you inject context mid-task. But unless you separate what belongs in a persistent rule, a task instruction, and a passing aside, your agent's accuracy actually drops. Here is a design for three context layers.