Confident Is Not Correct
An agent states its answer the same way whether it is right or wrong — fluently, and without doubt. So reviewing its output is not an optional extra. When you work with an agent, the review is the job.
How to Review
Every accepted change earns its place by passing the same four checks. Make them a habit, in this order.
- Read the diff — look at what actually changed, not at the summary of what changed.
- Run the tests — let the machine catch what your eyes miss.
- Try it yourself — use the feature the way a real user would.
- Check it did what you asked — not something adjacent that happens to look plausible.
Right-Looking, Subtly Wrong
Generated code often reads perfectly and still breaks in ways you only find later — a mishandled edge case, or a failure that stays silent instead of shouting.
Let the Tests Catch It
The fastest verification is the one you do not do by hand. Tests review every change for you, the same way, every time.
- Automated is faster — a test suite reviews in seconds what would take you minutes.
- Cover the change — a passing test only helps if it actually exercises the new behaviour.
- Then move fast — if the tests pass and cover the change, you can accept it and keep going.
Review Scales With Risk
Not every change deserves the same scrutiny. A throwaway script needs only a glance; code that touches authentication or handles user data earns real, careful review before you trust it.
Build It
How to implement: after your next agent change, read the full diff before you accept it, and run the tests. Only then commit — make that the shape of every change you take.
- Weekly AI Tasks tracker — always review changes to auth and to the message-handling path; a wrong parse or an open endpoint is a real risk.
- Personal brand site — verify every generated claim against the source material before publishing; that IS the review here.
What you learned
Confidence is not correctness, so always review: read the diff, run the tests, try it yourself, and check it did what you asked. Tests are your fastest net, and you scale review to match the risk.