# Journal 2025-08 > ## Retrospective ## Retrospective Wrote a [retrospective on several months of agentic coding experiments](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Retrospective%20of%20agentic%20coding%20experiments.txt). Results or byproducts of the experiments: - [Semi-structured software specification](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Semi-structured%20software%20spec.txt) - [Stateless AI–human interaction](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Stateless%20AI-Human%20Interaction.txt) - [Task queue for an AI agent](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Task%20queue%20for%20AI%20agent.txt) - The [neuro-symbolic inversion of control](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Neuro-Symbolic%20Inversion%20of%20Control.txt) and [recursive neuro-symbolic inversion of control](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Recursive%20Neuro-Symbolic%20Inversion%20of%20Control.txt) patterns 5 came out in early August. I like the low API price, and particularly like its support for [structured output](https://wiki.g15e.com/pages/Structured%20output.txt) based on user-supplied [regular expressions](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Regular%20expression.txt) or . Improved the [wiki gardening rules](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Wiki%20gardening%20rules.txt) toward eliminating all directories from the wiki. Had a brief bout of [benign paroxysmal positional vertigo](https://wiki.g15e.com/pages/Benign%20paroxysmal%20positional%20vertigo.txt), and don't seem to have recovered completely. ## Journal ### 2025-08-31 Collected thoughts I'd had about blockchain around 2022: [Thoughts on blockchain](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Thought%20on%20blockchain.txt). ### 2025-08-25 Experienced symptoms that seemed like [BPPV](https://wiki.g15e.com/pages/Benign%20paroxysmal%20positional%20vertigo.txt) or vestibular neuritis in the early morning and went to the hospital later that morning. They diagnosed . My entire field of vision rotated about 90 degrees clockwise and snapped back, repeating about 3–5 times per second, with severe nausea. (Nausea is merely an adaptive mechanism triggered by disruption of the nervous system, and is not itself a particular problem.) They say about two weeks of proper treatment should do it. ### 2025-08-23 Temporarily saved a conversation with a [LLM](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Large%20language%20model.txt) about ways to address the problems described in [Specifications written in natural language](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Specification%20written%20in%20natural%20language.txt): - [Model-driven testing](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Model-driven%20testing.txt). I'd like to think about incorporating these ideas into [s4](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Semi-structured%20software%20spec.txt). ### 2025-08-22 Wrote up the concept of [recursive neuro-symbolic inversion of control](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Recursive%20Neuro-Symbolic%20Inversion%20of%20Control.txt), after reflecting on the shared design principles in [semi-structured software specifications (s4)](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Semi-structured%20software%20spec.txt) and [Augmenting values in the process](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Augmenting%20values%20in%20the%20process.txt). Writing made me want to draw diagrams, so I added [Mermaid](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Mermaid.txt) rendering to the wiki. ### 2025-08-21 Wrote [Augmenting values in the process](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Augmenting%20values%20in%20the%20process.txt). Ideas for automating in ways that benefit me. --- Further improved the [wiki gardening rules](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Wiki%20gardening%20rules.txt) and completely removed folders from [Obsidian](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Obsidian.txt). I had been using four folders (`people`, `media`, `publications`, `dates`), but removed them all and added a `type` property to specify document types when necessary. For example, a page about a person uses `type: Person`, and a paper uses `type:ScholarlyArticle`. Any [schema.org](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/schema.org.txt) type can be used as a `type` value. ### 2025-08-19 Wrote a [retrospective on my agentic coding experiments](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Retrospective%20of%20agentic%20coding%20experiments.txt) over roughly five months since April. --- Collected my thoughts on [source code quality in the AI era](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Source%20code%20quality%20in%20the%20AI%20era.txt). ### 2025-08-17 Studied ESLint configuration files and wrote up what I learned: [Configuring ESLint](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Configuring%20ESLint.txt). ### 2025-08-13 Added an Atom feed to the wiki. It includes public pages whose `allowIndex` is `true`. The prompt I used: > Implement `atom.xml` feed here. See `@+server.ts` as reference. You may use simple XML library if needed. The feed should only include pages where `allowIndex` is `true`. It was a simple task, so I hoped it would work in one go, but unfortunately one follow-up instruction was needed. > Is it okay to list all the entries? Is it better to list recent entries only? When I'm unsure whether my instruction is right and want it followed if correct or an alternative proposed if wrong, phrasing it as a question like this generally works well. --- Spent about 30 minutes studying the [PARA method](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/PARA%20method.txt). ### 2025-08-12 Met an acquaintance near and chatted about [LLMs](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Large%20language%20model.txt). ### 2025-08-10 Built a [task queue for an AI agent](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Task%20queue%20for%20AI%20agent.txt), a system for assigning work remotely and asynchronously. Using the specification-based process from [Agentic coding experiment 3](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Agentic%20coding%20experiment%203.txt), I told it to carry out a small project. It finished after about six hours without human intervention. There is much I dislike about the result, but it is encouraging nonetheless. ### 2025-08-08 5 came out. I like the low API price, and particularly like its support for [structured output](https://wiki.g15e.com/pages/Structured%20output.txt) based on user-supplied [regular expressions](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Regular%20expression.txt) or . I hope competitors soon release better models in competition. [Cursor](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Cursor%20(software.txt)) immediately added GPT 5 support, so I'm trying it. Waking up to find my colleague (AI) a little smarter feels strange. After about four hours, it seems better at coding overall, but doesn't follow the instructions (rules) I wrote in Cursor very well. Sometimes it also sinks into prolonged thought, endlessly calling assorted tools. The Cursor team probably needs to optimize it further. --- Meanwhile, Cursor quietly(?) released a [Claude Code](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Claude%20Code.txt)-style development tool today, joining the CLI trend(?). ### 2025-08-04 Wrote [Stateless AI–human interaction](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Stateless%20AI-Human%20Interaction.txt). [Agentic coding experiment 3](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Agentic%20coding%20experiment%203.txt) continues. ### 2025-08-03 Documented [Agentic coding experiment 3](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Agentic%20coding%20experiment%203.txt). ### 2025-08-02 Skimmed the "Prompting Science Report" trilogy, coauthored by and : - [Prompting Science Report 1: Prompt Engineering is Complicated and Contingent](https://wiki.g15e.com/pages/Prompting%20Science%20Report%201.txt) - [Prompting Science Report 2: The Decreasing Value of Chain of Thought in Prompting](https://wiki.g15e.com/pages/Prompting%20Science%20Report%202.txt) - [Prompting Science Report 3: I'll pay you or I'll kill you -but will you care?](https://wiki.g15e.com/pages/Prompting%20Science%20Report%203.txt) Read [Magentic-UI: Towards Human-in-the-loop Agentic Systems](https://wiki.g15e.com/pages/Magentic-UI%20-%20Towards%20Human-in-the-loop%20Agentic%20Systems.txt), published by . Coauthor also contributed to these two papers I'd previously read. It seems she has been working steadily in this area at MSR. - [Sparks of artificial general intelligence - Early experiments with GPT-4](https://wiki.g15e.com/en/pages/Sparks%20of%20artificial%20general%20intelligence%20-%20Early%20experiments%20with%20GPT-4.txt) (the famous 2023 Sparks of AGI report) - [Designing an online infrastructure for collecting AI data from people with disabilities](https://wiki.g15e.com/pages/Designing%20an%20online%20infrastructure%20for%20collecting%20AI%20data%20from%20people%20with%20disabilities.txt) ### 2025-08-01 Finally tried [Effect (the TypeScript library)](https://wiki.g15e.com/pages/Effect%20(library.txt)) in a side project, something I'd been meaning to do for ages.