Pablo Rodríguez

“I have a strong intuition that this code is of poor quality. Please tear it to shreds and tell me all the ways it sucks.” (yes, that’s my actual prompt)

Tell it to flag any place where you’ve gone 10 lines without a comment. Demand strict readability.

You are an experienced software engineer experienced with our codebase. Read this document and the files it references and tell me: Does it absolutely have all the information you would require to successfully implement this feature in your first pass?”

“Assume the role of an expert technical reviewer. Read this design doc and all the files it references. Tell me all the things I missed, all the faulty assumptions, all the edge cases I’m missing, and things I should have considered but did not. Every mistake and ambiguity you find makes you more helpful and useful.”

“Based on your understanding of the codebase and what we discussed, I would like you to give me a first draft proposal of a technical implementation to actually make this feature happen. I’m not looking for code. I want prose from you that demonstrates your understanding of my system. Short blocks of pseudocode are fine if you think that will help,... See more

I do not want you to create code. We are not going to create code. Resist your impulse to create code. Instead, we are going to have a design discussion. I am about to describe a feature. I want you to ask me clarifying questions and challenge my assumptions. Do not just accept what I say.”