More than just code review
- ID
- 16872
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 22 Aug 2026, 11:56 PM
- Fetched
- 24 Aug 2026, 7:48 PM
- Provider
- Simon Willison
- Category
- developer-ai
- Original URL
- https://simonwillison.net/2026/Aug/22/more-than-just-code-review/
- Source URL
- https://simonwillison.net/atom/everything/
Summary
- Score
- 6.5
- Created
- 24 Aug 2026, 7:49 PM
- Tags
- Audience
- developersvibe_codersai_agent_users
What happened
Simon Willison argues that the core skill for productive use of coding agents is confidently instructing them on changes and confidently verifying those changes were applied correctly. He pushes back on the assumption that this must mean reviewing every line of generated code, noting that line-by-line eyeballing has never been the most effective validation method anyway.
Why it matters
If you're using coding agents, the bottleneck isn't code review volume—it's building reliable verification workflows (tests, type checks, behavior validation) so you can trust agent output without reading every line. Rethink your verification strategy rather than defaulting to manual review.
Discussion angle
What concrete verification techniques (automated tests, type systems, diff review, behavior checks) are people actually using to trust coding agent output without reading every line?