Comprehension debt: the hidden cost of agent-built software outweighs tech debt
Al_Grigor · x · 2026-11-09
Alexey Grigorev popularizes 'comprehension debt' (a term from Addy Osmani) for the agent era: if you can't predict what your own product does when you click or change something, the debt is high—even when agents build from specs, they make many decisions for you.
His repayment playbook:
- Use the product yourself and check its behavior
- Ask agents to explain every surprising decision, then fix it
- For important features, skip the factory format and personally guide the agent session through UX/UI details
Technical debt still bites (tests pass but a feature takes an hour instead of 5 minutes; bugs fixed five times keep returning)—his fix is asking agents to find what slows them down. But he argues comprehension debt matters more.
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