The delegation test is whether you can write the check first

说明与用途

采用“先写检查”实践，可更清晰地将任务交给 AI 代理，减少迭代次数并扩大团队参与度。

问题

Determining when to hand tasks to a coding agent is often based on task difficulty, leading to misaligned handoffs and repeated iterations.

结果

Implementing a pre-written acceptance check before delegating tasks to AI agents reduced redundant iterations, clarified expectations, and broadened team participation in handoffs.

工作流

• 1. Identify the task to be delegated.
• 2. Write a clear, checkable acceptance criterion before drafting any prompt.
• 3. Ensure the criterion is specific, measurable, and testable (e.g., pagination behavior, dependency upgrade, allocation metrics).
• 4. Draft the prompt based on the acceptance criterion.
• 5. Delegate the task to the coding agent.
• 6. Review the agent’s output against the written check.
• 7. Iterate only if the check is not met; otherwise accept the result.

证据

If you can write the check, hand it off. If you cannot, the task is not ready to hand to anybody.

来源

The trick with the second list is that it is usually not one task. It is a decision wearing a task costume.

来源