Most AI coding sessions fail the same way: they start fast, sprawl, and quietly lose the plot. My fix is boring and it works — phases.
One phase at a time
I never ask for the whole product. I break it into phases that each ship something testable: concept and naming, then the core system, then the interface, then the loop that makes it worth using. Nothing moves to the next phase on faith.
Memory beats chat history
I keep a small set of project files — what we are building, the decisions made, what is done. A fresh session can pick up cold from those. Structured memory is what keeps a long build coherent.
Verify, then continue
AI-generated code looks finished long before it is correct. A quick verification pass — sometimes a dedicated checker agent — catches the silent failures before they compound.
Stay the owner
The tool drafts; I decide. That single rule is the difference between a product I understand and a pile of generated code I do not. It is how I built LAB76 from a sentence to a private beta on my own.
