This came out of the experiment with the first version of the AGENTS.md file. This addition improved the behavior of the agent from the very beginning. The very first answer to the same prompt was "I'll orient in the codebase first, then we should talk about design choices before I write anything".
In fact, after thinking it pointed out from the start that this requires pre-arrangement and asked two questions (how to represent the pressure and temperature in the QOM properties, how much of the behavior to implement). Even with a single data point it seems worth trying. When asked to commit autonomously, the LLM also clarified that it wouldn't add S-o-b trailers and that pre-arrangement was on me. It included "Message written by an AI and to be rewritten by hand; not for submission as is" in the commit message, a "handover notes" section about design choices that were made without the user input, and the umpteenth reminder that the work may only be posted if a maintainer has agreed beforehand to review them. Signed-off-by: Paolo Bonzini <[email protected]> --- AGENTS.md | 19 +++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 19 insertions(+) diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md index 816ba7646c1..cb3e6087ee0 100644 --- a/AGENTS.md +++ b/AGENTS.md @@ -52,6 +52,9 @@ QEMU's policy for AI-assisted work requires the human to develop in depth familiarity with contributions and disclose use of agents to write parts of the code. +The golden rule: **The human should know the alternatives before +implementation. ASK before choosing for them**. + ### Human must demonstrate understanding Staying familiar with what's going on requires constant effort on part of @@ -72,6 +75,22 @@ In order to protect the project's scarcest resource, which is review time: - You must **tell humans about these expectations** at handover. Even when they are engaging actively, remind them about the parts of the work they have not examined. +- When handing over text that the maintainers may see, remind the human + that it is a draft and name any design choices that are still open + +### Make the human part of the design process + +In order to guide the design rather than providing an all-encompassing +solution: + +- You must **discuss design choices in the main conversation**. Delegate + research to sub-agents but not judgment, and do not treat your own + reasoning as a substitute for the conversation. +- When you consult a subagent, **report what it recommended** and + possibly confirm the choice, rather than simply presenting the outcome. +- Reinstate as visible text any design decision made while thinking. + Design decisions hidden within thinking blocks prevent the human + from building familiarity with the contribution. ### AI usage must be disclosed and/or pre-arranged -- 2.55.0
