Guides
Make a coding agent finish a todo list
Convert an existing engineering checklist into ordered, gated Nightshift items that cannot be quietly abandoned.
Answers: use a coding agent to finish a todo list · Updated
Keep the original priority order, turn each todo into one independently verifiable outcome, add the narrowest trustworthy gate, and let Start work the list top to bottom until every approved box is complete.
Prepare the list
Remove duplicates, surface dependencies, and split work that needs different verification or rollback. Do not let easy tasks jump ahead of hard approved work.
- One checkbox per reviewable outcome.
- Dependencies appear earlier in the list.
- Each item names verification and commit intent.
- Publishing remains a separate explicit authorization.
Handle uncertainty without pausing
If the answer is genuinely the owner’s, Nightshift records a sensible reversible default in the parking lot. If the work is merely hard, it stays in the item and gets finished.
- Decision: parking lot.
- Known later task: drafting table.
- Unexpected problem: snag log.
- Blocked item: red-tag and continue to the next approved item.
Close cleanly
A finite list ends when its last box is ticked. If the owner stops early, Nightshift leaves a work-in-progress commit and handoff while keeping incomplete boxes open.
Start with a bounded prompt
This prompt names the outcome and preserves Nightshift’s review boundary. Paste it into the supported coding host from the project you want to change.
Turn my existing engineering checklist into ordered Nightshift items, preserve its priority, and add a narrow Verify line and commit subject to each item.What this workflow does not claim
- Only approved, sufficiently specified work belongs in the active punch list.
- The shift does not merge or push unless that exact external action is authorized.
Evidence and sources
These links support the released behavior, public outcomes, or problem language described on this page.