AI Guide
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AI Guide
A practical guide to building software with AI coding agents.
1. Introduction
The thesis
What this guide is
Who this guide is for
2. How Coding Agents Work
How LLMs actually work
Training: three stages, three consequences
The context window
Reasoning models
From LLM to Coding Agent
The agentic loop
Anatomy of the harness
Feedback loops -- why agents work at all
3. Development Environment
Choosing a coding agent
Plugins, skills, and hooks
Skills
Hooks
MCP servers
Useful MCP servers
The terminal is your toolkit
Useful CLI tools
4. Working Repository
Repository Structure
Documentation
Verification Gates
Conventions