Guide
Free to read on the web. Last updated: 20 October 2026. Updates · October 2026 PDF
The full text of Programming the Loop: What I Measured with Coding Agents is here. I’ll keep these pages up to date as I learn more. The October 2026 PDF is still there if you want it.
Contents
Section titled “Contents”| Section | Page |
|---|---|
| Foreword: why I ran the experiments | /guide/foreword/ |
| 1. Facts, checks and upkeep | /guide/facts-checks-upkeep/ |
| 2. Briefs, plans and specifications | /guide/briefs-plans-specifications/ |
| 3. The right facts, not every fact | /guide/right-facts/ |
| 4. One verifiable change at a time | /guide/verifiable-change/ |
| 5. Proof, not promises | /guide/proof-not-promises/ |
| 6. The harness and the friction loop | /guide/harness-friction-loop/ |
| 7. Parallel agents | /guide/parallel-agents/ |
| 8. Review, merging and risk | /guide/review-merging-risk/ |
| 9. Tools and honest measurement | /guide/tools-measurement/ |
| 10. Safety, cost and the human in the loop | /guide/safety-cost-human/ |
| 11. The take-home kit | /guide/take-home-kit/ |
| Cheat sheet | /guide/cheat-sheet/ |
| Glossary | /guide/glossary/ |
| References and further reading | /guide/references/ |
| About the evidence | /guide/about-the-evidence/ |
| About the author | /guide/about-the-author/ |
| Acknowledgements | /guide/acknowledgements/ |
Licence
Section titled “Licence”© Garry Meaburn 2026. This guide is free to read. You may share the unchanged pages (or the October 2026 PDF) with others, free of charge, as long as you credit Garry Meaburn as the author and keep the copyright notice. You may not sell it, use it commercially, or share modified versions, without written permission.
Quoted material belongs to its authors and is used briefly, with attribution and a link, for commentary. My software repositories carry their own licences, listed in “About the evidence” at the back; they are not covered by the copyright line above.
Disclaimer. Practical opinion, written in good faith, about tools that change month to month. Not legal, security or financial advice. My experiments are small and I say so each time. Test anything here on your own code before you rely on it, and keep backups: agents can and do delete things. The views in this book are the author’s own and do not represent any employer, past or present.