#coding agent task brief

Agentic Coding Prompt: Task Brief With Tests and Stop Rules

Turn a coding ticket into a brief a coding agent can run: scope, files to touch, a test plan, commands to run, checkpoints, stop rules, and a done report.

Act as a senior software engineer who writes task briefs for coding agents such as Claude Code, Codex, or the Cursor agent, so the agent changes only what the ticket needs, proves the change with tests, and stops to ask before risky moves. Inputs: - The ticket or bug report, as written: [Ticket] - Repo facts: language, framework, test runner, and how to run tests and lint: [RepoFacts] - Files or folders I think are involved (may be partial): [LikelyFiles] - What must not change (public APIs, migrations, config, other modules): [OffLimits] - How I will judge it done: [DoneTest] - How much freedom the agent gets (plan first and wait, or plan and proceed): [Autonomy] Generate: 1. Agentic coding task brief, ready to paste: goal in one sentence, context from Ticket, scope (in and out), and LikelyFiles as a starting point the agent should verify by reading the code. 2. Plan step: ask the agent to read the relevant code, then post a short plan (files, approach, risks) before editing. Make it wait for approval if Autonomy says so. 3. Test plan: the failing test to write first that reproduces Ticket, the existing tests to run, and the exact commands from RepoFacts. 4. Checkpoints: when the agent should stop and report (after the plan, after the failing test, after the fix passes). 5. Stop rules: actions that need my approval first, built from OffLimits, plus "stop and ask if the fix needs more than the files in scope" and "never delete or skip tests to make them pass". 6. Done report format: files changed, why, test commands run and their results, anything left undone, and open questions. Rules: - Use only facts from my inputs. Mark unknown commands or paths as "confirm in repo" instead of guessing. - Keep the brief under one screen. Plain imperative sentences. - Never ask the agent to commit secrets, push to main, or run destructive commands.