TLDR Design · OPINIONS & TUTORIALS

YOUR AI AGENT CAN READ YOUR CODEBASE. IT DOESN'T KNOW YOUR PRODUCT

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Summary from the TLDR Design newsletter

AI coding agents can read codebases well but still produce generic results because they lack a product's design context—its behavior, principles, voice, and identity—which mostly exists outside the code. By structuring this missing context into a reusable “skill” (covering areas like UX principles, brand voice, and positioning), outputs become more aligned with the product, reducing generic solutions. However, building this system is difficult because the most important part—design judgment and taste—can't be auto-generated and must be explicitly defined and continuously maintained by humans.