THE PROBLEM
Why this pattern exists
Fast code generation can increase changes faster than teams can validate behavior, design integrity, security and operations.
DESIGN GUIDANCE
Principles to preserve
- Human accountability and architectural decision ownership are explicit.
- AI can assist at every stage but does not remove verification gates.
- Test design and security controls should be created before or alongside implementation.
- Production signals feed requirements, evaluation and architecture change.
- Release promotion requires independently verifiable evidence.
THE REAL DESIGN WORK
Trade-offs, not just boxes
- Stricter gates can slow local iteration while reducing production regressions.
- Automated evaluations need maintenance and can drift as business behavior evolves.
- Autonomous coding helps throughput only when test and deployment systems are reliable.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
Before you implement
- What can the agent change and with what repository permissions?
- Which tests are independent of generated implementation?
- Who accepts an ADR or a business-rule exception?
- What signals trigger rollback and learning?