# Agent Project Brief
By Alexandr Rich · alexandrrich.com

Hand this to an agent before it writes any code.
A good brief is the cheapest quality control you will ever buy.
Keep it to one page and update it when a decision changes.

## The user
Who is this for?
What are they trying to get done?
What do they use today instead?

## The outcome
In one sentence, what can the user do when this is finished that they cannot do now?

## Smallest useful version
The three things the first version must do:
1.
2.
3.

What it will not do yet:
-

## What "done" means
- [ ] The main workflow works end to end for a new user.
- [ ] These tests exist and pass:
- [ ] It is deployed at:
- [ ] A person other than me has used it.

## Constraints
Stack and hosting:
Data it may read and write:
Data it must never touch:
External services and their cost limits:
Anything irreversible (payments, deletions, messages sent to people):

## Context the agent needs
Files and folders to start with:
Conventions to follow:
Decisions already made, and why:
Known traps from earlier sessions:

## How work is handed back
- Each change is small enough to review in one sitting.
- The agent says what it tested, how, and what it did not test.
- Anything it could not verify is listed as unverified, not as done.

## After each session
Record what the next session needs to know in the project memory.
If the agent repeated a past mistake, add that mistake to "Known traps."