Pete Hodgson
@thepete.net
Startup CTO and software delivery aficionado
"Why is Claude Code better/worse than [other coding agent] - they’re both using the same models under the hood?"
A reasonable question, so I spent some time reverse-engineering Claude Code's interactions with the model to illustrate why coding agent matters
blog.thepete.net/blog/2025/12...
🧵...
A reasonable question, so I spent some time reverse-engineering Claude Code's interactions with the model to illustrate why coding agent matters
blog.thepete.net/blog/2025/12...
🧵...
Same Model, Different Results: Why Coding Agents Aren't Interchangeable
Reverse-engineering Claude Code reveals why it performs differently from other agents that use the same Anthropic models. The answer lies in sophisticated context engineering and tool orchestration hi...
blog.thepete.net
December 29, 2025 at 5:37 PM
"Why is Claude Code better/worse than [other coding agent] - they’re both using the same models under the hood?"
A reasonable question, so I spent some time reverse-engineering Claude Code's interactions with the model to illustrate why coding agent matters
blog.thepete.net/blog/2025/12...
🧵...
A reasonable question, so I spent some time reverse-engineering Claude Code's interactions with the model to illustrate why coding agent matters
blog.thepete.net/blog/2025/12...
🧵...
I continue to believe that context management is the #1 skill to develop if you want to get the most out of coding agents.
But why? Modern models have a context limit of 200,000 tokens! That seems like a lot!
There's a couple of reasons why...
🧵
But why? Modern models have a context limit of 200,000 tokens! That seems like a lot!
There's a couple of reasons why...
🧵
December 17, 2025 at 9:35 PM
I continue to believe that context management is the #1 skill to develop if you want to get the most out of coding agents.
But why? Modern models have a context limit of 200,000 tokens! That seems like a lot!
There's a couple of reasons why...
🧵
But why? Modern models have a context limit of 200,000 tokens! That seems like a lot!
There's a couple of reasons why...
🧵
This is a great summary of what code review is REALLY for.
It also demonstrates why AI-powered code review does not help AT ALL with the most important aspects of code review: aligning the team around software design (#1 and #3 in the hierarchy).
blakesmith.me/2015/02/09/c...
It also demonstrates why AI-powered code review does not help AT ALL with the most important aspects of code review: aligning the team around software design (#1 and #3 in the hierarchy).
blakesmith.me/2015/02/09/c...
Code Review Essentials for Software Teams » Blake Smith
blakesmith.me
December 9, 2025 at 6:51 PM
This is a great summary of what code review is REALLY for.
It also demonstrates why AI-powered code review does not help AT ALL with the most important aspects of code review: aligning the team around software design (#1 and #3 in the hierarchy).
blakesmith.me/2015/02/09/c...
It also demonstrates why AI-powered code review does not help AT ALL with the most important aspects of code review: aligning the team around software design (#1 and #3 in the hierarchy).
blakesmith.me/2015/02/09/c...
AI WON'T turn you into a 10x engineer but it CAN accelerate your day-to-day work.
I'm hosting a live workshop early next month to help experienced devs level up from copilot to coding agents.
No breathless hype, no "learn this one magical prompt" BS, I promise!
blog.thepete.net/ai-assisted-...
I'm hosting a live workshop early next month to help experienced devs level up from copilot to coding agents.
No breathless hype, no "learn this one magical prompt" BS, I promise!
blog.thepete.net/ai-assisted-...
AI-assisted Engineering Workshop Series
Level up from copilot to coding agents in this practical online workshop teaching AI-assisted Engineering practices for experienced developers. No breathless claims about 10x productivity. No suggesti...
blog.thepete.net
December 5, 2025 at 4:46 PM
AI WON'T turn you into a 10x engineer but it CAN accelerate your day-to-day work.
I'm hosting a live workshop early next month to help experienced devs level up from copilot to coding agents.
No breathless hype, no "learn this one magical prompt" BS, I promise!
blog.thepete.net/ai-assisted-...
I'm hosting a live workshop early next month to help experienced devs level up from copilot to coding agents.
No breathless hype, no "learn this one magical prompt" BS, I promise!
blog.thepete.net/ai-assisted-...
Reposted by Pete Hodgson
One thing you can do with skip levels is ask questions about things you believe you've communicated. You'll be surprised how often people haven't really internalized it.
https://www.rubick.com/skip-level-1-on-1s/
www.rubick.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:14 PM
One thing you can do with skip levels is ask questions about things you believe you've communicated. You'll be surprised how often people haven't really internalized it.
Slides from my #kubecon talk today
Feature Flags Suck! - The Problems With Feature Flagging and How To Avoid Them
speakerdeck.com/phodgson/fea...
Feature Flags Suck! - The Problems With Feature Flagging and How To Avoid Them
speakerdeck.com/phodgson/fea...
Feature Flags Suck! - KubeCon Atlanta 2025
<strong>Feature Flags Suck! - The Problems With Feature Flagging and How To Avoid Them</strong>
OK, feature flags are actually pretty awesome, but if…
speakerdeck.com
November 13, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Slides from my #kubecon talk today
Feature Flags Suck! - The Problems With Feature Flagging and How To Avoid Them
speakerdeck.com/phodgson/fea...
Feature Flags Suck! - The Problems With Feature Flagging and How To Avoid Them
speakerdeck.com/phodgson/fea...
Blurghed about managing you AI coding agent's context.
Proactively trimming and refining the context your agent is working with is probably THE best way to improve the quality of it's work.
But there's more to it than firing off a `/compact` every now and then.
blog.thepete.net/blog/2025/10...
Proactively trimming and refining the context your agent is working with is probably THE best way to improve the quality of it's work.
But there's more to it than firing off a `/compact` every now and then.
blog.thepete.net/blog/2025/10...
AI Coding: Managing Context
Managing your coding agent's context is super important - a bloated context window will erode the quality of your agent's work over time. Learn some new techniques for trimming irrelevant details from...
blog.thepete.net
October 30, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Blurghed about managing you AI coding agent's context.
Proactively trimming and refining the context your agent is working with is probably THE best way to improve the quality of it's work.
But there's more to it than firing off a `/compact` every now and then.
blog.thepete.net/blog/2025/10...
Proactively trimming and refining the context your agent is working with is probably THE best way to improve the quality of it's work.
But there's more to it than firing off a `/compact` every now and then.
blog.thepete.net/blog/2025/10...
Reposted by Pete Hodgson
"Many developers are surprised by the changes they have to make to their workflow when they're using AI. For example, <proceeds to describe eXtreme Programming>"
October 30, 2025 at 4:01 AM
"Many developers are surprised by the changes they have to make to their workflow when they're using AI. For example, <proceeds to describe eXtreme Programming>"
Reposted by Pete Hodgson
Okay, for the folks who asked: here's the majority AI view, writing up the reasonable, thoughtful view on AI that the vast majority of people in tech hold, that gets overshadowed by the bluster and hype of the tycoons trying to shill their nonsense. anildash.com/2025/10/17/t... Please share!
The Majority AI View - Anil Dash
A blog about making culture. Since 1999.
anildash.com
October 17, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Okay, for the folks who asked: here's the majority AI view, writing up the reasonable, thoughtful view on AI that the vast majority of people in tech hold, that gets overshadowed by the bluster and hype of the tycoons trying to shill their nonsense. anildash.com/2025/10/17/t... Please share!
1000000%
I feel like how we feel about smoking on airplanes is how the next generation will feel about us just mainlining social media.
October 3, 2025 at 4:30 PM
1000000%
Super interesting proof-of-concept exploit against an AI agent via GH pull request.
Very sneaky prompt injection which convinces an AI coding agent to subtly inject a remote backdoor into a codebase.
A great example of @simonwillison.net's Lethal Trifecta!
blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/06/p...
Very sneaky prompt injection which convinces an AI coding agent to subtly inject a remote backdoor into a codebase.
A great example of @simonwillison.net's Lethal Trifecta!
blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/06/p...
Prompt injection engineering for attackers: Exploiting GitHub Copilot
Prompt injection pervades discussions about security for LLMs and AI agents. But there is little public information on how to write powerful, discreet, and reliable prompt injection exploits. In this ...
blog.trailofbits.com
September 29, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Super interesting proof-of-concept exploit against an AI agent via GH pull request.
Very sneaky prompt injection which convinces an AI coding agent to subtly inject a remote backdoor into a codebase.
A great example of @simonwillison.net's Lethal Trifecta!
blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/06/p...
Very sneaky prompt injection which convinces an AI coding agent to subtly inject a remote backdoor into a codebase.
A great example of @simonwillison.net's Lethal Trifecta!
blog.trailofbits.com/2025/08/06/p...
Good example of why it's important to monitor your LLM-powered features in prod.
Apparently some bug in Amazon's AI assistant where the product description isn't in it's prompt.
Pre-production evals are super important, but wouldn't catch this. Monitoring some key metrics in prod would.
Apparently some bug in Amazon's AI assistant where the product description isn't in it's prompt.
Pre-production evals are super important, but wouldn't catch this. Monitoring some key metrics in prod would.
September 25, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Good example of why it's important to monitor your LLM-powered features in prod.
Apparently some bug in Amazon's AI assistant where the product description isn't in it's prompt.
Pre-production evals are super important, but wouldn't catch this. Monitoring some key metrics in prod would.
Apparently some bug in Amazon's AI assistant where the product description isn't in it's prompt.
Pre-production evals are super important, but wouldn't catch this. Monitoring some key metrics in prod would.
Such a nice way to illustrate the point
Putting all your controllers in one directory and your views in another
Is like putting the cortisone and hemorrhoid cream in the drawer with toothpaste because they're all tubes.
Is like putting the cortisone and hemorrhoid cream in the drawer with toothpaste because they're all tubes.
August 8, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Such a nice way to illustrate the point
Reposted by Pete Hodgson
they should be taken to The Hague for this graph crime
August 7, 2025 at 6:31 PM
they should be taken to The Hague for this graph crime
There are some amazing pro-tips for AI coding in this session:
github.com/hellovai/ai-...
Specifically, really good advice on how to manage agent context (which can have a big impact on the LLMs performance).
If nothing else, just skim the summary and see if anything looks interesting.
/🧵...
github.com/hellovai/ai-...
Specifically, really good advice on how to manage agent context (which can have a big impact on the LLMs performance).
If nothing else, just skim the summary and see if anything looks interesting.
/🧵...
ai-that-works/2025-08-05-advanced-context-engineering-for-coding-agents at main · hellovai/ai-that-works
🦄 ai that works - every tuesday 10 AM PST. Contribute to hellovai/ai-that-works development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
August 6, 2025 at 6:47 PM
There are some amazing pro-tips for AI coding in this session:
github.com/hellovai/ai-...
Specifically, really good advice on how to manage agent context (which can have a big impact on the LLMs performance).
If nothing else, just skim the summary and see if anything looks interesting.
/🧵...
github.com/hellovai/ai-...
Specifically, really good advice on how to manage agent context (which can have a big impact on the LLMs performance).
If nothing else, just skim the summary and see if anything looks interesting.
/🧵...
Reposted by Pete Hodgson
Hi #AWS -using friends. I’ve been writing some articles about fundamental AWS ops for small-medium companies, all oriented around AWS Organizations. So far I’ve covered org structure, Accounts, managing human users, IaC. I have another 4 or so articles still to come, so am about half way.
(1/3)
(1/3)
July 29, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Hi #AWS -using friends. I’ve been writing some articles about fundamental AWS ops for small-medium companies, all oriented around AWS Organizations. So far I’ve covered org structure, Accounts, managing human users, IaC. I have another 4 or so articles still to come, so am about half way.
(1/3)
(1/3)
This continues to shock and confuse me: the proportion of devs who are still not getting any active encouragement from their employers to start experimenting w. AI-assisted coding.
Also goes to show how silly the "all devs will be replaced by AI in 2 years" claims are.
/via @angiejones.tech
Also goes to show how silly the "all devs will be replaced by AI in 2 years" claims are.
/via @angiejones.tech
July 30, 2025 at 2:58 AM
This continues to shock and confuse me: the proportion of devs who are still not getting any active encouragement from their employers to start experimenting w. AI-assisted coding.
Also goes to show how silly the "all devs will be replaced by AI in 2 years" claims are.
/via @angiejones.tech
Also goes to show how silly the "all devs will be replaced by AI in 2 years" claims are.
/via @angiejones.tech
Github have a lot of good general advice on code review in an AI coding world here: github.blog/ai-and-ml/ge...
🧵 I have some thoughts...
🧵 I have some thoughts...
Code review in the age of AI: Why developers will always own the merge button
When it comes to merging code, developers will always make the final decision. But we’re rethinking how tools like GitHub Copilot can help.
github.blog
July 24, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Github have a lot of good general advice on code review in an AI coding world here: github.blog/ai-and-ml/ge...
🧵 I have some thoughts...
🧵 I have some thoughts...
Nice post from Korny Sietsma on trying to find the middle ground between the AI coding Maximalists and the AI coding luddites.
blog.korny.info/2025/07/19/c...
🧵...
blog.korny.info/2025/07/19/c...
🧵...
Clowns to the left of me …
I’ve had the song “Stuck in the Middle with You” in my head for a few weeks. (R.I.P. Michael Madsen!) 1 But not because of Reservoir Dogs - but because of the public discussion about AI coding tools...
blog.korny.info
July 21, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Nice post from Korny Sietsma on trying to find the middle ground between the AI coding Maximalists and the AI coding luddites.
blog.korny.info/2025/07/19/c...
🧵...
blog.korny.info/2025/07/19/c...
🧵...
Reposted by Pete Hodgson
Pete Hodgson continues his excellent writing on Gen AI by proposing an approach to leading engineers towards an AI-assisted future, centered around a the concept of aligned autonomy.
blog.thepete.net/blog/2025/06...
@thepete.net
blog.thepete.net/blog/2025/06...
@thepete.net
Leading your engineers towards an AI-assisted future
Your CEO wants to know why AI isn’t writing half your code yet — are you ready for that conversation? I lay out a practical, proven strategy which will help your teams understand AI's capabilities and...
blog.thepete.net
July 10, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Pete Hodgson continues his excellent writing on Gen AI by proposing an approach to leading engineers towards an AI-assisted future, centered around a the concept of aligned autonomy.
blog.thepete.net/blog/2025/06...
@thepete.net
blog.thepete.net/blog/2025/06...
@thepete.net
“Listen, I’m wondering if our engineers are doing enough with AI…”
your CEO says, as the two of you sit down for your 1:1.
Wouldn't it be great to have a true strategy in place for adopting AI-assisted coding? I've got you covered!
blog.thepete.net/blog/2025/06...
your CEO says, as the two of you sit down for your 1:1.
Wouldn't it be great to have a true strategy in place for adopting AI-assisted coding? I've got you covered!
blog.thepete.net/blog/2025/06...
July 10, 2025 at 12:40 AM
“Listen, I’m wondering if our engineers are doing enough with AI…”
your CEO says, as the two of you sit down for your 1:1.
Wouldn't it be great to have a true strategy in place for adopting AI-assisted coding? I've got you covered!
blog.thepete.net/blog/2025/06...
your CEO says, as the two of you sit down for your 1:1.
Wouldn't it be great to have a true strategy in place for adopting AI-assisted coding? I've got you covered!
blog.thepete.net/blog/2025/06...
Reposted by Pete Hodgson
I've seen a surge of discussions recently about large AI-generated change sets that are impossible to review by humans, paired with speculation if we still need to care about the code in the future. I expect to continue to care, especially if I'm on call for it martinfowler.com/articles/exp...
I still care about the code
Notes from my Thoughtworks colleagues on AI-assisted software delivery
martinfowler.com
July 9, 2025 at 4:02 PM
I've seen a surge of discussions recently about large AI-generated change sets that are impossible to review by humans, paired with speculation if we still need to care about the code in the future. I expect to continue to care, especially if I'm on call for it martinfowler.com/articles/exp...
The replies in this thread are fascinating. Way different from the constant breathless hype I'm used to seeing in general. A bit depressing though.
how is everyone holding up with ai-based software development?
if you don’t mind sharing, what changed at your company process-wise? anything you love/hate? are things stabilizing or changing with wider swings?
i left fulltime coding work just as the change started happening so idk what’s going on
if you don’t mind sharing, what changed at your company process-wise? anything you love/hate? are things stabilizing or changing with wider swings?
i left fulltime coding work just as the change started happening so idk what’s going on
June 26, 2025 at 7:12 AM
The replies in this thread are fascinating. Way different from the constant breathless hype I'm used to seeing in general. A bit depressing though.
Reposted by Pete Hodgson
A great way to get started with feature flags!
⚡Supercharge Your Feature Flags Using OpenFeature + AWS Parameter Store
A feature flag is a mechanism that allows specific functionality within an application to be enabled...
dev.to
June 25, 2025 at 9:16 PM
A great way to get started with feature flags!