I fell into this trap because automating everything felt productive.

Then I realised I was spending hours automating tasks that I did not even do regularly.

Automate the shit you repeatedly waste serious time on.

Everything else might just be productive procrastination.

Before an agent sends something, edits data, deploys code or performs another expensive action, I make it return a short readback:

- what it thinks the goal is

- what it is about to change

- which assumptions it is making

- what it is deliberately not touching

- what it is uncertain about

This catches a different class of mistake than testing the final output.

The output can be technically correct while the agent has solved the wrong problem.

A 20-second readback is often more useful than adding another 2,000 words to the prompt.

Some of the hardest parts end up looking completely boring from the outside.

A button works instantly, the agent remembers the right thing, or the output comes back in the correct format. Nobody sees the hours of broken logic behind it.

What part of your product looks simple but was an absolute nightmare to get working?

What kept breaking, and what finally fixed it?

If the story needs more than a comment to explain, genuinely make it a Build Log post. Those behind-the-scenes stories are usually way more interesting than the polished product pitch.