Dev iconDevOct 1, 2026 ~1 min source read

The Agent Shouldn't Be Able to Approve Its Own Rules

Once a coding agent can change the architecture, changing the rules that protect it becomes a different kind of operation. One of the less obvious problems I've run into with coding agents isn't that they make bad changes.

The Agent Shouldn't Be Able to Approve Its Own Rules

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Once a coding agent can change the architecture, changing the rules that protect it becomes a different kind of operation.

One of the less obvious problems I've run into with coding agents isn't that they make bad changes.

It's that sometimes they make a perfectly reasonable change that invalidates one of the rules I'm using to check the project.

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The useful part

Once a coding agent can change the architecture, changing the rules that protect it becomes a different kind of operation. One of the less obvious problems I've run into with coding agents isn't that they make bad changes. It's that sometimes they make a perfectly reasonable change that invalidates one of the rules I'm using to check the project.

How it works

  • It looks at the existing code and decides that the current adapter isn't quite right.
  • The resulting change crosses a boundary that the project currently protects.
  • That made me much more interested in the difference between changing the code an...

Details worth keeping

All payment-provider access must go through PaymentAdapter. An agent is asked to add support for another payment provider. The thing being checked was allowed to change the conditions of the check.

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