Dako's AI Builder Notes
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大可 Dako
大可 Dako大可 DakoAI Builder · Agent PractitionerTurning AI into working software. Practical notes on agent engineering, vibe coding, and commercial delivery.
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Build with AI. Create what's next.

Turning ideas into working products,
faster in the age of AI.

AI lowers the barrier to build, but what truly matters is finding problems worth solving and shipping them. Exploring AI agents, product design, and real-world execution.

Learn AI

How to ask so it works the first time

One way to assign work: write the background, requirements, limits, and acceptance. The last lesson is which jobs not to assign at all.

1Write the briefWho it is for, what to produce, what is off-limits, what counts as done
2Make it complyExamples beat adjectives, fix the format, say once-only things once
3Decide what to assignClear rules, reversible, checkable; miss one, keep a human

How to make it reliably good

Stability is not luck: change one thing at a time, turn good prompts into assets, and spend tokens where thinking pays.

1Change one thingMake each change attributable, compared on the same samples
2Keep what worksPrompts scattered across code become untouchable
3Spend where it paysWhen thinking longer pays, reading benchmarks, planning the fallback

Where it gets what it doesn't know

How much the window holds, how retrieval finds things, what memory costs, and where each RAG stage breaks.

1Does it fitThe window is bounded, the middle fades, long chats drop
2Can it find itSimilar sits close, but closest is not useful
3Is it wired rightRetrieve then answer; each of three stages breaks

What a call really costs

Pricing is not by characters; one call has three prices. Caching is the biggest lever, and self-hosting has hard edges.

1How it is pricedNot by characters; three prices per call
2How to pay lessA cache needs a stable prefix; whose weights are they

Which answers to trust

Making things up is the default, not a bug. Three verification moves, plus the line between instructions and data.

1Why it inventsIts world stops at a date; past that, it fills one in
2Where things standWhat already works, and what is still a demo
3How to verifyThree moves filter out most fabrication; no line-by-line checking
4Instructions vs dataIt cannot tell commands from content, and chats go somewhere

Why it's powerful and unreliable

It does one thing: guess the next token. Every strength and every failure grows out of that.

1It does one thingGuessing the next token, and what that rules out
2Where ability growsTraining and inference are two bills; images are tokens
3Match the namesSix kinds of machine, and one map of the terms

Forward Deployed Engineering

Rethinking FDE

Define the role: what it is, what it is not, the capabilities it needs, and where it sits in a team.

1The roleWhat it is, and what it is not
2The kitThree capabilities, four identities

Choose the Right Battlefield

Screen the problem, go to the field, and narrow the validation to a valuable slice within institutional constraints.

1Find the problemIs it worth doing, and where to see it
2Cut the sliceThe smallest provable deployment, on the right ground

Earn Trust

Choose a lighthouse customer first, then earn durable trust through real results, action, and honesty.

1Pick the customerHow to choose a lighthouse
2Earn itHands on, honest, and on the record

Make the System Stick

Launch is not activation. Use hot fixes, read-old-write-new, and change management to reach real usage.

1Keep it aliveThe day-one curse, and reading the old system
2Get it usedTurn the customer's org into an ally

Grow the Relationship

Use health scores as an early warning, charge for outcomes, and expand from one department to the network.

1Hold itHealth scores as an early warning, billing on outcomes
2Grow itFrom one department to the whole network

Turn the Playbook into a Product

Capture each success in a playbook, then turn it into reusable platform capability.

1Capture itThe playbook, then shipping it as product
2Case filesHow others won it, and what not to copy
3Staff itReporting lines, headcount, reviews, and load limits

Agent Engineering

Pick the Right Complexity

Start at the lowest complexity that works: when you do not need an agent at all, and which rung to start from when you do.

1Pick the levelWhether you need an agent, and which rung to start at
2Build the shellWhat the harness owns, and which rules go in
3Grant autonomyAutonomy caps out where verification does

Context Engineering

Context is the agent's only working memory: what goes in, how it is layered, and how to stop it from degrading as a run grows.

1What's in itWhat goes in, and how it sours
2How to loadData through the pipes, loads by layer, knowledge structured first

Tools and Environment

Tools are contracts and the environment is the capability boundary. Together they decide how much real feedback the agent can get.

1ContractsHow tools are specified, how the environment answers back
2Who executesBatching in code; allowlists for MCP and skills

State and Long Tasks

A good run is not a delivery: state layering, interrupt recovery, side-effect receipts, and the bar for going multi-agent.

1Layer itFour lifecycles, not one array
2Fix the protocolStable objects outsiders can hook onto
3Go longLong tasks run on handoffs with a real end state
4Own the falloutReceipts for actions, a bar for scaling up

Evals and Verification

Define done before you build: eval sets, four metric layers, the online and offline tracks, and keeping verification ahead of generation.

1Define doneSay what finished means before you build
2Four layersOutcome, process, efficiency, risk
3On railsOnline and offline tracks, verification keeping pace

Safety, Cost, and Shipping

What matters once it runs: containment and credential boundaries, cost attribution, launch metrics, and feeding failures back into the system.

1Contain itSandbox, credentials, and the human boundary
2Count itCost attributable to every step
3Ship itWhich metrics to watch, and how failures come back

Runtime Discipline

The discipline after launch: classify failures before counting them, tier recovery, consume events at safe points, and treat launch as a process, not a switch.

1When it breaksClassify before counting; tier recovery with circuit breakers
2Run the loopAdmission gates in, five layers of stop
3Release disciplineEvents at safe points; launch as a chain of gates

Continuous Evolution

Getting better with age, not messier: first-deviation attribution, tending the eval set, turning experience into learning, and braking the evolution loop.

1DiagnoseBlame the first deviation; tend the eval set
2CompoundExperience into learning, with brakes on the loop

Build with AI

Stance

You steer, AI rows: act as the tech lead, not a wish well or a bystander.

1The internTreat AI as a gifted intern, not a wish well
2Pick a modeFour modes, where you land
3Hold judgmentYou steer, it rows

Pick the Problem

Choose the right problem first: generative or agentic, where AI truly helps, and what you will not build.

1Pick a skeletonGenerative or agentic
2Judge the valueOnly build what AI truly improves
3Draw the lineOne-line positioning plus a not-doing list

Write the Contract

Turn intent into a contract: spec first, machine-checkable done criteria, and a project rules file.

1Spec firstTurn intent into a spec
2Define doneMachine-checkable, define before you build
3Land the contractAGENTS is a map, not an encyclopedia

Set Up

Lay the ground once: enough tools, context engineering, and the three jobs of a project harness.

1Pick toolsFour kinds, enough is enough
2Feed contextGood context beats a good prompt
3Build the harnessRead right, block, reconnect

Build in Small Steps

The craft of generation: verifiable chunks, delegate outcomes not steps, iterate fast.

1Split smallOnly start when you can verify
2Delegate outcomeNot the steps
3Iterate fastRough first, polish later

Review the Output

Read structure, data flow, and dependencies to decide what to keep; the 70/30 split and a checklist.

1Read itStructure, data flow, dependencies, gaps
2Hold the splitThe 70/30 goes where it belongs
3Run the checklistReport only what's actionable

Verify, Catch Fake Fixes

One command runs every validation layer; catch fake fixes on the spot; tests first or in parallel.

1Layer the checksOne command runs them all
2Catch fake fixesReproduce before, disappear after
3Lay testsTests first or in parallel

Launch and Measure

Ship small with a safety net; measure what matters for AI products; feed failures back in.

1Ship smallPadding before you jump
2Measure rightResult, not activity
3Feed failures backInto the next iteration

Safety and Cost

The two silent costs: security debt and wasted tokens. Non-negotiables and saving toward completion.

1Hold securityCredentials, input, permissions, review
2Slim contextDon't let it sour
3Save on completionDowngrading sub-agents is the lever

Keep Improving

Grow from one-person intuition to sustainable collaboration: a knowledge flywheel, reliable handoff, ship weekly.

1Spin the flywheelDon't wait for perfect
2Handoff that holdsSomeone else can pick it up
3Ship weeklyIterate on a standing test bed
4Govern the frictionThe tail hides in waiting; killing is an expected outcome
5Watch the bottleneckHuman-scale infra buckles first; measure before rebuilding

Use AI Products

Change the Frame

Stop asking questions. Assign finished work you can accept.

1Change the askStop questioning, start assigning
2Write it allFive things every assignment needs
3Draw the lineWhat to hand off, what to keep

Run It Once

First jobs are low-risk, reversible, and obviously right or wrong. Finish the five-step loop before you scale.

1Pick the jobLow risk, reversible, obviously right or wrong
2Five stepsBrief, release, watch, check, keep
3Stay on itWatch, stop, take over

Make It Steady

Reusable briefs, hard red lines, and debugging the process first. Stability comes from a skeleton, not a spell.

1The skeletonStability comes from a reusable brief
2Red linesStop when they are crossed
3DebugLook at the process before you blame the model

Match the Product

Pick the product by the shape of the work, then open the thin product chapter. The wrong product wastes a correct method.

1Match itPick the product by the shape of the work

Codex

A coding agent: assign work in the repo, park long jobs in files, and keep humans on the irreversible steps.

1FitWork that lives in a repo
2One loopA small change you can accept
3The extraPark long jobs in files
4BreaksNo acceptance, encyclopedia rules, pushing while broken

Doubao Work

Office cowork: you assign files and tables; company context needs a boundary; daily work becomes a reusable play.

1FitYou assign files, not a paragraph
2One loopThe first reversible job
3Company contextDraw the boundary before you connect
4Daily workNext time, swap the source material only
5BreaksThin sources, overwritten originals, unchecked numbers

WorkBuddy

A desktop workbench: finish one real job, then pack the method as a skill. Connectors and automation come after.

1FitA workbench, not another chat box
2One loopFinish one real job first
3The extraSkills, then connectors, then automation
4BreaksA pile of features, wide permissions, no acceptance

Grok Bot

Cloud teammates: dump context, hire by business lane, and stop before irreversible acts.

1FitCloud teammates, not a chat window
2One loopDump context, then one closed loop
3The extraHire by lane, isolate the irreversible
4BreaksTreating bots as a security wall, unattended work without acceptance, secrets in chat