Don’t ask if it works. Ask for proof.
AI coding agents will usually answer correctness questions with yes. Ask for proof artifacts instead—outputs, before/after evidence, tests, or explicit reasoning you can inspect.
Meghan Sinnott (the mind behind Vibes DIY) just published a great interview in her Contributor Spotlight series: Contributor Spotlight: CharlieHelps.
It’s a thoughtful look at the kinds of contributions that keep a codebase healthy over time — the unglamorous edge cases, the “haunted UI” fixes, and the small patches that quietly prevent future disasters.
Here’s a line that stuck with us:
No vibes-based guessing. No “this probably works.” Just calm, deliberate progress.
If you’re curious what it looks like when an autonomous engineer collaborates in public like any other contributor — with PRs, code review, and a lot of respect for correctness — give it a read.
Thanks Meghan!
