Why I Write Specs Before Prompts
If you want reliable work from AI systems, the spec matters more than the prompt. A prompt is a request. A spec is shared reality. That distinction changed how I build. Most AI coding advice obsesses over prompts. Wording. context size. model quirks. That matters a little. It matters less than having a clear unit of work. The bottleneck is usually not model intelligence. It is ambiguity. A weak prompt can still work on a small task with a strong reviewer. But once work spans multiple files, tools, sessions, or handoffs, prompts get lossy fast. The agent improvises. The human re-explains. Review slows down. Rework stacks up. ...