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Ask HN: Do you "micro-manage" your agents?

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Open in hackernews

Ask HN: Do you "micro-manage" your agents?

6•xinbenlv•3h ago
I’ve recently started integrating AI coding agents into my daily workflow (specifically when using Cursor Composer, Devin, Claude Code), and I’ve noticed a strange pattern in my behavior.

I treat the agent like the worst kind of micro-manager.

When I work with a human junior developer, I try to provide the "why" and the high-level architecture, then give them autonomy to solve the problem. If I stood over their shoulder dictating every variable name, commenting on every logic branch before it was finished, and constantly interrupting with "no, do it this way," they would (rightfully) quit within a week.

However, with the agent, I find that micro-management is actually the optimal strategy.

* I break tasks down into atomic units. * I review code block-by-block rather than feature-by-feature. * I constantly course-correct standard library choices or variable naming conventions in real-time.

And I felt that I am intruding the space of my agents while I should have just trust and let it build. It also sometimes break the seperation of tasks.

What makes me further unsettled is the kind of mental drain and internal conflict with what I have been trained in management.

So my question for you is

Do you micro-manage your agent?

or what's the best pratice?

Comments

politelemon•3h ago
When I am getting to the point where I have to start micromanaging them, I first question whether the task is worth the pain of having to deal with their fumblings. In many (but not all) cases it is not worth the pain, and I stop using them and do the work myself. Working with agents should not be a mandatory aspect of a workflow as it becomes a hindrance more than a helper.
xinbenlv•51m ago
Good points
hereme888•1h ago
Depends. Some agents can finish simple tasks by themselves. Sometimes for complex tasks or random reasons they may need more management. There are no rules in such a dynamic field with all these new, experimental workflows.
sheepscreek•3m ago
Yes 100%. Usually to stop it in its tracks when it’s about to derail itself, and go on an unrelated tangent. When this happens a few times, it’s time to start a fresh chat or try a different agent.