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redfloatplane | on: Anthropic's open-source framework for AI-powered vulnerability discovery
"Shop jigs" is a great way to put it. I think a lot of software has gone from being made for general use to extremely individualised use. Before the Age of AI, it took so much human effort to write something that solved your problem that you might often go the extra mile so that others could re-use it. Now, it takes almost no effort, so the software stays ungeneralised. Some of the incentive has changed, I think. Most of the time I no longer share the things I've been building[0] because, for one thing they simply couldn't possibly have any benefit for others, and if they need something like it, they can build exactly the thing they want instead of having to extend or modify my thing. Like a jig!

0: https://redfloatplane.lol/blog/17-why-share/ (and related posts, I guess)

colmmacc | parent | next
Unless it is very specific to a proprietary product, craftspeople take their jigs with them from job to job, building up a personal library over a career. As a software developer I've always had a well-tuned IDE and shell config in a safe place.

Something I think about a lot is what is the equivalent for the software builders of today using AI tools? how do make these harnesses exportable and portable? You might think employers would be against this; make it more costly to leave. But I actually think most will favor this because it makes people more productive more quickly. But we have to find ways to normalize it and show that there are no security leaks in the process (like might make it in to a set of personal steering prompts).

tptacek | root | parent | next
Just nerding out here, not rebutting, but when you say "craftspeople take their jigs with them from job to job" --- sort of. Sometimes. I think if you put a woodworker in a position where they obliged to build a new miter sled or assembly table, they might actually be thrilled. You make a tool, you use it for awhile, you build up a mental list of things you'd like to improve about it, that you'd do differently if you got a do-over; now you have an excuse to do it.
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aquajet | root | parent | next
Using something like pi helps. I've made my own dotfiles for skills/extensions I like and can install them just like my normal dotfiles

https://github.com/anishthite/agent-dotfiles

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agravier | root | parent | next
I've imported and adapted my personal agentic dev framework to my team relatively successfully (as I've kept it relatively harness independent), but it requires actually owning it, vibed or bloated or conceptually inconsistent stuff bite a lot when porting things over.
worldsayshi | root | parent | next
> craftspeople take their jigs with them from job to job

Except for software gigs the software typically belongs to the customer so you'd need to rewrite it every time...

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jaxn | root | parent
i have been thinking about this from a different direction: how do we make these shared within a company in a way that increases the productivity floor of the team/department/company. Sure, they can still be extended/enhanced by individuals, but we don’t need everyone configuring mcps, building institutional memory, etc.

for me, it’s not about the cost to leave, it’s about lowering the cost of onboarding and change.

beezlewax | parent | next
No effort? You are really drinking the AI marketing soup with that one.

"It takes less effort for some parts of the software development life cycle" would be more correct.

andhug | parent
That’s an interesting way to say “code quality in the age of ai has gone out the window”
drtz | root | parent
Are you suggesting that performing a specific task without unnecessary abstractions is indicative of poor quality?