One-line agents.md prompt forces coding agents to reply in short bullets plus key diffs
weswinder · x · 2026-10-26
Developer weswinder shares a one-line addition to agents.md that tames verbose coding-agent recaps:
> after changes, test. reply = ≤8-word bullets (✓ tested x, ⚠ bug a.js:9) + diff: verbatim key logic -/+, ⋯ L1-9: names between. ask last
It forces the agent to test after changes, report results as bullets of ≤8 words, paste only the key logic as a verbatim diff with line references, and ask questions last.
His problem: agent summaries were getting longer than the actual diffs, forcing endless scrolling through recaps. With this rule, replies compress into a short tested-items checklist plus a few core diff lines (see screenshot), making reviews far faster. Copy-paste ready for any project's agents.md.
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