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Agentic Coding Guide

Checklists

Checklists turn common tasks into explicit steps an agent can follow without guesswork. They matter because agents are more consistent when the expected sequence of work is written down.

Use checklists for risky, frequent, or review-sensitive tasks. Keep them short enough that an agent can actually follow them during execution.

Best practices

Section titled “Best practices”
  • Create checklists for bug fixes, refactors, and new features first
  • Keep each checklist task-specific
  • Put verification near the end of every checklist
  • Call out when to stop and ask for confirmation
  • Write steps as actions, not principles
  • Store checklists in version control
  • Link to relevant docs or commands when needed
  • Keep each checklist short enough to scan in one pass

What not to do

Section titled “What not to do”
  • Do not turn a checklist into a long handbook page
  • Do not use vague steps like “be careful” or “use judgment”
  • Do not mix unrelated workflows into one checklist
  • Do not bury required verification in notes
  • Do not create checklists nobody actually follows
  • Do not leave old steps around after the workflow changes

Examples

Section titled “Examples”

This is a good checklist because every step is concrete, ordered, and directly useful while the agent is working. The agent knows what to do first, what to validate, and what to report.

Repo path:

  • /docs/checklists/bug-fix.md
# Bug Fix Checklist


- Reproduce the issue
- Identify the affected code path
- Make the smallest safe change
- Add or update a regression check
- Run verification
- Summarize root cause and residual risk

This is a bad checklist because it contains advice, not execution steps. The agent still has to invent the actual workflow.

Repo path:

  • /docs/checklists/bug-fix.md
# Bug Fix Checklist


- Understand the problem deeply
- Consider the architecture
- Use best practices
- Be careful not to break things
- Test as appropriate

Agent Prompt

Section titled “Agent Prompt”

Use this prompt to have an agent create the checklist for you.

Create short operational checklists for this repository.


Requirements:
- Create `/docs/checklists/bug-fix.md`, `/docs/checklists/refactor.md`, and `/docs/checklists/feature.md`.
- Keep each checklist focused on one workflow.
- Use concrete action steps, not generic advice.
- Include verification near the end of each checklist.
- Add a final step for summarizing what changed and any residual risk.
- Keep each checklist short enough to scan in under 30 seconds.


Output:
- Create the checklist files in `/docs/checklists/`
- Use flat bullet points
- Optimize for real execution by coding agents

References

Section titled “References”