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Agentic Engineering

Implementation

Implementation is where most engineers first encounter agents. Success depends on approach, not just prompting.

High-value tasks

Section titled “High-value tasks”

Boilerplate generation — CRUD operations, API scaffolding, form components, DTOs, configs. Agents handle these quickly and reliably. This is where “10x” claims are almost true.

Feature implementation — Best when requirements are clear, patterns exist in your codebase to follow, and scope is bounded (single PR, few files).

Bug fixes — Clear bugs are excellent agent tasks. “User login fails with null pointer when email contains ’+’” beats “fix the login flow.”

Refactoring — Mechanical refactoring is ideal: rename across codebase, extract function/class, convert patterns. Complex restructuring is harder.

Data transformations — Migration scripts, format conversions, ETL logic. Well-defined inputs and outputs make these agent-friendly.

The workflow

Section titled “The workflow”

  1. Plan — Know what files will change, the desired end state, and what should NOT change.

  2. Set context — Provide relevant code, existing patterns to follow, and constraints.

  3. Generate — For complex tasks, ask for the plan first: “Describe how you would implement [feature]. Don’t write code yet.”

  4. Validate — Does it work? Handle edges? Follow conventions? Have security issues?

  5. Refine — “This doesn’t handle the case where…” or “Follow the pattern in [file] instead.”

What slows you down

Section titled “What slows you down”
  • Overcomplicated prompts — Start simple, add detail as needed
  • Under-constrained asks — “Build the feature” leaves too many decisions to the agent
  • Fighting the agent — After 3+ reprompts without progress, re-think or do it yourself
  • Insufficient context — Missing context leads to invalid output
  • Wrong tool — Some code is faster to write manually

Prompt patterns

Section titled “Prompt patterns”

Feature implementation:

Implement [feature] in [file/module].


Requirements:
- [Specific requirement 1]
- [Specific requirement 2]


Follow the pattern used in [existing example].
Don't modify [things to preserve].

Bug fix:

Bug: [description]
Reproduction: [steps or code]
Expected: [behavior]
Actual: [behavior]


Fix this in [file]. The root cause is [if known].

Refactor:

Refactor [module/function] to [desired change].


Keep the public API unchanged.
Maintain all existing functionality.
[Additional constraints]

Resources

Section titled “Resources”