Manifesto
The future of coding
is already here
It’s not a dream. It’s a decision.
01 — The reality
AI-assisted coding is no longer a demo toy or a vague promise. Companies are doing exactly that — at industrial scale, on legacy production codebases — today.
Stripe has documented it publicly with end-to-end coding agents (Minions). Experienced developer teams discuss it openly. It’s no longer science fiction. It’s a bold choice. And it’s available now.
02 — The paradigm shift
The old model: the developer is the coding machine.
The new model: the developer is the brain directing the machine.
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| I write code | I define what must be coded |
| I debug | I verify that success criteria are met |
| I figure out how to do it | I decide what to do and why |
| I’m deep in implementation | I’m the architect, analyst, product owner |
Humans become 100% focused on:
- precise, unambiguous requirements;
- technical and functional constraints;
- goals and non-goals;
- critical review of plans and produced code;
- detailed success criteria before a single line is written.
03 — How it works in practice
Docker as a guaranteed clean room
No more “works on my machine.” The build lives in Docker — a build tuned specifically for Docker that delivers a clean environment every time. docker-compose up means full environment, clean build, tests running.
Full sandboxing so the agent can operate with real operational autonomy: test, break, retry — without risk to the real environment.
The test pyramid as a safety net
For every area of code we touch → we first write characterization tests of existing behavior. The agent doesn’t code in a vacuum; it codes under supervision.
A living documentation base
The agent needs context. That context lives in the repository:
- AGENTS.md — strong rules, documented patterns, known pitfalls;
- PAYMENT_PROCESS.md — structured, traceable work plan;
- module- or domain-specific directives.
This isn’t documentation for documentation’s sake. It’s the working contract between human and agent. The more precise that contract, the more effective the agent.
04 — The structuring principle: boundaries
A coding agent is only as good as the context you give it. Its context window has real limits — cognitive and physical. This is where the human architect plays an irreplaceable role.
The trap: horizontal coding
Changing serialization strategy across 12 modules, refactoring a cross-cutting pattern across the whole codebase — these are horizontal efforts. They dilute the agent’s context to the breaking point. It loses the thread, produces inconsistencies, misses side effects.
The alternative: bounded vertical slices
Working on a well-defined vertical — payment flow from API to DB, authentication from validation to token — lets the agent hold the whole problem in mind. It operates in a closed world where every piece is visible, dependencies are known, and side effects are containable.
The boundary isn’t a constraint — it’s a success condition. A sovereign agent in a well-bounded world produces coherent, tested code. An agent drowning in a cross-cutting effort produces noise.
This split into integrated verticals isn’t new — it’s what DDD (Domain-Driven Design) calls bounded contexts. What’s new is that these boundaries become the agent’s unit of work.
Defining those boundaries is the architect’s job. It’s hard, intentional, and demands deep domain knowledge. That’s precisely why it’s human work you don’t delegate away.
05 — What changes: the new cycle
The IDE becomes a code review and quality validation tool — navigate fast, critique, question, draft targeted improvement plans. Not a production tool.
- Define intent clearly
- Document constraints and success criteria
- Delegate to the agent + Docker sandboxing
- Review produced code (intent vs reality)
- Iterate if needed
- Validate: functional tests + full stack
06 — Why now?
Because the competitive advantage window is open now. Companies adopting this paradigm compound velocity. Those who wait compound lag.
We already have the ingredients:
- a codebase we understand;
- existing Docker infrastructure;
- testing tooling in place;
- coding agents that can work on legacy code.
What’s missing is the decision and discipline to operate differently.
07 — The future we can build
Every team member becomes a mini product owner for their area of responsibility:
- lead analyst for their domain;
- architect of design decisions;
- project lead for coding agents;
- guardian of quality through review and tests.
It’s not less work. It’s different work — more strategic, higher impact, closer to the real value we ship.
Potential velocity is unprecedented. Human cost per shipped feature collapses. Quality rises because human brains focus where they add the most value.
08 — Where to start
It’s demanding. Getting started takes real investment.
But the trajectory is clear: every effort invested in this paradigm compounds — docs, tests, and rules accumulate and make the next iterations exponentially faster.
Moving now means choosing sustainable velocity.
French: Same manifesto in French