DNdavidnguyen.io
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How I ship software with agents

Working software shipped by an agent harness that refuses to lie about done. Every feature passes type-checks, tests, and a production build before it can call itself finished.

I'm not a software engineer. I'm an operator who builds working systems with AI. The honesty here is enforced by machinery, not trust.

enforcement floor · armedbuilding
specplanbuild8/149/14reviewQAsecurityship
wave w-23
enforcement floor

0.99100 steps37%

A 99%-reliable-per-step agent finishes a 100-step feature correctly about a third of the time. Gates fix that, not a smarter prompt.

task board · 14 in wave89311
schema + RLS migrationT-04code-done
save / unsave server actionsT-07code-done
library list query · DALT-09coding
saved-state hydrationT-12codingcode-done
OG image · shared library routeneeds: asset spec from designcodingblocked
empty-state + a11y passT-18to-docoding
library paginationT-21to-do
gate consolestreaming

harness ▸ T-12 · saved-state hydration · enforce done-gate

tsc--noEmitchecking…0 errors
vitestrunrunning…103 / 103 passed
nextbuildcompiling…compiled · 41s
gitcommitwriting…b7e2c14 · 6 files

done-gate ▸ passed: task is done

gate history0 failed· forced-green forbidden

harness ▸

this build99%per-step reliability~37%unenforced 100-step success7pipeline gatestsc · tests · builddone-gatecaptured run · this harness

An agent's per-step reliability compounds to roughly a third over a long feature; a gated pipeline with a type-check, tests, and production-build done-gate is the fix.

How it works

Reliability comes from enforcement, not better prompts

An agent that's reliable per step still fails a long feature without enforcement. You don't fix that with a smarter prompt. You fix it with gates the agent cannot talk past.

  1. 01

    A gated pipeline

    Every feature runs spec → plan → build ⇄ review → QA → security → ship. Each phase produces an artifact on disk, gated before the next begins.

  2. 02

    Hooks, not the honor system

    Destructive commands blocked, protected files locked, database security required on every change, and a done-gate that runs type-check, tests, and a production build. A rule in a prompt drifts; a hook holds.

  3. 03

    Honest status, fresh-eyes review

    Workers report done, done-with-concerns, blocked, or needs-context. Blocked is a valid answer, forced-green is forbidden. A reviewer that didn't write the code reads every diff first.

Proof

Live work, not screenshots

Real shipped products, each built or proven through this harness.

AI Systems Handbook

A public knowledge product with an authenticated saved-library, shipped through this harness, live on Vercel.

Artifact being prepared for publicationOpen
SCF Protocol walkthrough

A narrated demo of a supply-chain-finance prototype: smart contracts on a public testnet, ZK-proof linkage, role-based interfaces.

Artifact being prepared for publicationWatch
prompt-library

The harness's first validation build, where this pipeline was proven before it built anything else.

Artifact being prepared for publicationOpen
What runs it
Claude Codethe agent harness
Spec · plan · review · QA · securityphase artifacts on disk
Git pre-commit hooksthe enforcement floor
Type-check · tests · buildthe done-gate
Next.js · Supabase · Vercelthe shipping stack

What your team gets

Features that are actually done when they say they're done. A delivery system where the non-negotiables are enforced, not hoped for, and an operator who built it and runs it daily.