In the Garden of Habits
With one of my side web projects I noticed that it had been months since I'd taken a hard look at the level of accessibility. I'd run a pass using axe-core, and addressed the issues, and then set it aside. There are several issues to unpack here, the first being why the scan isn't part of at least a pre-commit hook, or integrated into the deployment flow - but that's not where today's tangent went.
When I noticed the gap in accessibility, there were a few things I should have thought about:
- Did I have accessibility defined as a requirement when creating a new feature - if so how?
- Did I have any rules or standards defined or linked?
- What are the standard approaches to a11y with this application's tech stack and how do they work in agentic flows?
But nope - I went way past that - I went straight to I need a COMMAND - Claude has to do this for me now! It's become way too easy for me to default to dropping the Slash / on anything that gets in my way. I've caught myself Slashing git commands, letting myself off the hook when I need to rebase a repo. I've Slashed away node module management. I've Slashed repo setup.
Throughout my career I've encountered dozens of variations on the Every Thing is a Nail problem. Ask me about needing to orchestrate a slew of ETL jobs but only having access to <insert scripting language here> and I've probably done it. The challenge in the agentic world is doubly devious as Opus will gladly wrap your command in Fabergé Egg level gilding to make it seem like it's a brilliant idea.
The lesson for me is one that I seem to have to relearn every few months. In our actual garden I made the choice to plant something called Creeping Wire Vine. It was perfect in some respects, low water, sun tolerant and would crowd out the weeds. But it had plans of its own, and soon there was only wire vine.
Habits will flourish if nurtured, and sometimes they might just overrun the garden if you're not diligently focused on what you want to harvest. In the landscape of harnesses I need to rethink how I plot, prune and harvest to ensure I get the yields I expect.