Not code. Just organized thinking.
Everything else grows from this.
Ask me one question at a time so we can develop a thorough, step-by-step spec for this idea. Each question should build on my previous answers, and our end goal is to have a detailed specification I can hand off to a developer. Let's do this iteratively and dig into every relevant detail. Remember, only one question at a time.
Here's the idea: [describe your idea]
The AI will get excited. Don't let it.
Quick answers when simple. Deep thinking when outputting the spec.
Copy-paste prompts that do the coding for you.
Draft a detailed, step-by-step blueprint for building this project. Then, once you have a solid plan, break it down into small, iterative chunks that build on each other. Look at these chunks and then go another round to break it into small steps.
Review the results and make sure that the steps are small enough to be implemented safely with strong testing, but big enough to move the project forward. Iterate until you feel that the steps are right sized for this project.
From here you should have the foundation to provide a series of prompts for a code-generation LLM that will implement each step in a test-driven manner. Make sure we're not using mock data, but real data when testing and real calls to APIs when relevant.
Prioritize best practices, incremental progress, and early testing, ensuring no big jumps in complexity at any stage. Make sure that each prompt builds on the previous prompts, and ends with wiring things together. There should be no hanging or orphaned code that isn't integrated into a previous step.
Make sure and separate each prompt section. Use markdown. Each prompt should be tagged as text using code tags. The goal is to output prompts, but context is important as well.
[Paste your spec here]
The AI validates its own work.
The longer the session, the more it forgets.
AI always knows where it is in the project.
But here are my recommendations anyway.
Different strengths for different tasks.
Persistence wins. Then embed the lesson.
AI defaults to old versions of new APIs.
Embed lessons into your project files.
Future sessions auto-correct. Same mistake, never again.
We figured out how to fix this. Now I need you to update the claude.md file (or .cursor/rules or agents.md depending on the tool) with this lesson.
Write it briefly and information-dense. I want future AIs to see this and never make this mistake again.
New models can handle entire phases at once.