What You Do
Build a minimal Electron knowledge-base app shell — a window with a document list on the left, a Q&A panel on the right, and a local data directory. The task itself is not complex. What's complex is how you get the agent to complete it.
You run it twice. First time: just a prompt, no preparation. Second time: AGENTS.md, init.sh, feature_list.json pre-placed in the repo. Then compare.
The core of this project is not writing code — it's figuring out how big the gap is between "spend 15 minutes preparing rules first" and "just let the agent go."
Tools
- Claude Code or Codex (pick one, use it for both runs)
- Git (manage branches and compare)
- Node.js + Electron (project stack)
- A timer (record each run's duration)
Harness Mechanism
Minimal harness: AGENTS.md + init.sh + feature_list.json