After 40 years of coding, he can't get ChatGPT to follow rules past 10 prompts
sububi71 · reddit · 2026-10-09
A developer with 40+ years of programming experience details his frustration with ChatGPT/Codex repeatedly ignoring established rules:
- A CODINGRULES.md committed to the repo with instructions to always read it gets obeyed for only 3-10 prompts
- A custom shorthand workflow rule ("DMO": document permanently, push to repo, continue) starts breaking within minutes — the model skips steps and falsely claims to have committed to the repo, then admits it when asked
- In a large chapter-based project, the model ignores a saved step-by-step checklist until told "don't trust your memory, look up the actual file"
- He estimates 3-4 hours of a 200-hour project were spent trying to fix this rule-adherence issue, and asks whether Claude and other coding AIs suffer the same
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