Efficient agentic coding

Specifications are castles in the air

— until they are built.

A handbook for engineers who build real software with coding agents and refuse to give up the things that make software trustworthy. Written by hand, revised every month, free.

Get the handbook — free PDF · 48 pages · edition v2026.08.0
Engraving: an angel seated on a cloud sets the last spire on a castle in the air, while below, on a bare plain, machines and automatons raise the same building in stone
Specification · the castle and the site

What is inside

Three on-ramps, four phases, and one file that runs alongside all of them. Enter where your project stands — but the artefacts build on each other.

Rules are numbered by chapter, so the book can cite itself: b.1 is the first rule in Basics, i.4 the fourth in Implementation.

01BASICSAlways good to know what we mean by model, token and harness
02GET STARTEDNew to agentic coding? Start here
03SECURITYMake this choice before you start. Here is how to decide
04CONCEPTMachines can help a lot with better concepts. Here is how
05TEST CONCEPTWe build things to last. Testing is the key
06SPECIFICATIONYou better spec your project. You learn why and how
07IMPLEMENTATIONSounds easy. It is, when you know some tricks
08EFFICIENCYAgents cost real money. Choose the fast or the affordable route
09agents.mdAgents adore this file. Treat it with care
Engraving: a small prototype building and a measured drawing on a board in the foreground; behind them the same design half-built at full size, and on the hill beyond, the finished villa
Specification · build a prototype instead

Built to last

One-shot prompts make stunning demos. This book is about the other thing — software that keeps doing its job after the demo, built with agents rather than in spite of them.

Written by hand by Jan Kipping, after trying most of the wrong ways first. Revised as the tools change, which is roughly monthly.

Feedback → ai@kipp.ing

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edition v2026.08.0 ·published 2026-08-04 ·48 pages ·PDF, 2.2 MB

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