Stop Re-Explaining Project Decisions to Your AI Coding Assistant
To stop re-explaining a project decision to an AI coding assistant, preserve more than the answer. Write down the decision, the project it applies to, the reason behind it, and the source that authorizes it. Then check that a new session can retrieve and apply that record without being told the answer again. This guide proposes a lightweight workflow. It does not assume that every assistant…
Avoid repeatedly explaining project decisions to an AI coding assistant. To prevent this, create a concise decision record containing the decision, the specific project, the reasoning behind it, and a reference to the approved design. Verify that after starting a new session, the assistant can retrieve and apply the recorded decision without being reminded of the answer. Follow these steps:
1. Identify the decision: In the Cedar project, the decision was to handle report exports through a background worker.
2. Define the scope: The decision applies specifically to Cedar report-export endpoints.
3. Explain the reasoning: Generating exports within the request handler would prevent the system from acknowledging the job, leading to a poor user experience.
4. Cite the source: The approved report-export design is documented in the project repository.
5. Specify exceptions: This decision does not apply to unrelated small downloads.
6. Store the record: Keep the decision record in a stable location that the assistant can access and update, such as a project decision document, an explicitly loaded context file, or a memory store connected to the assistant. Ensure that the storage path is clear and that the record can be inspected and updated.
7. Test the workflow: Start a new session with the assistant and ask it to sketch the implementation plan for the report-export endpoint. Verify that it relies on the stored decision and its source, and that it respects the decision's scope and exceptions. Repeat this process with an unrelated small download to ensure the assistant applies the correct boundary to each type of request.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
