some thoughts on writing software in nov 2026: - it feels like magic - the first 80% is 100x faster - rewriting systems is also 100x faster - opus 5.5 is very good at a lot of things - "deep flow state" is much easier to reach - almost anything can be built in typescript and rust - building secure things is very, very hard the optimization function is how to maximize agents working on goal with the fewest interruptions needed. some things that help: - know where to trust vs guide (and keep retesting) - give them agency like "i'm going to bed, get this done" - if there is a reward function, ask them to hillclimb - the socratic method works wonders - skills and memories can often hinder - asking agents to review themselves still helps - cowriting a plan/spec/invariants helps sometimes managing your own psychology is equally important: - be a lot more ambitious about what you can achieve - avoid dopamine traps / false signals of progress - get good at parallelizing and context switching there are also some things that don't quite work fluidly yet, but will get unlocked in the very near future: - software factory or "find and fix the bugs" - multiplayer agentic workflows - agents managing other agents for high level outcomes - organizational memory