Some of the issues mentioned above like dead code removal, code duplication, unreachable code are already solved using deterministic linters for quite a while now for most language ecosystems.

You can get the LLM to run a script which checks for all of these and also enforce them by running the same script as a pre-commit hook. Setting this up religiously in every code base I work on has been what's given me the most mileage with agentic coding.

I wrote down a more detailed post of the various linters I use here:

https://www.balajeerc.info/Use-Deterministic-Guardrails-for-...

▲ saghm 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Sure, giving agents a deterministic way to run linters is good, but that already implicitly accepts the premise that code hygiene does actually matter. If you agree with that, then you probably also recognize that there are some things that you can't lint for because they're a lot harder to define, and why would you expect an agent to be able to figure that out today when they still need our intervention to even properly run linters?

▲ rafaelmn 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Some of the issues mentioned above like dead code removal, code duplication, unreachable code are already solved using deterministic linters for quite a while now for most language ecosystems.

I have legacy endpoints that are no longer used in practice, there for historical reasons, intertwined with existing code etc. They might be marked obsolete, services implementing it are not - agent greps those, builds off of them - produces half legacy garbage.

Linters only handle trivial cases most of us already solved.

▲ yoyohello13 an hour ago | parent [-]

Yeah, we have a big struggle with this. We have lots of legacy code that doesn't follow our latest design patterns intermixed with new code. The LLM picks up bad habits depending on what it pulls in to context first. We have AGENTS.md configured with the right way, but old style still slips in. We obviously need to update the old code but on the other hand if it ain't broke why touch it.

	▲	kstenerud an hour ago \| parent [-]
		I have the agent inject comments that mention that this particular code is legacy and must not be used as a reference, should not be cleaned up, etc. If you have a document that lists all of the reasons not to use or touch some code, the comments can simply be references to it. `// LEGACY CODE, per docs/legacy_rules.md §14, §19`

▲ maccard 37 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

> You can get the LLM to run a script which checks for all of these

Most of the time. Except for when it forgets to do it.

I think it’s funny that the solution is to use something that is not LLM driven to enforce it.

Also - pre commit hooks aren’t enforced, people will not set them up. You have to run this stuff in CI (which is incredibly annoying given that machines are writing the code in the first place)

	▲	Yokolos 25 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		This is the most frustrating part. You do everything you can to ensure there are clear instructions, you can keep the agent MD as concise and clear and short as possible. It still feels like it's all just a suggestion, and of course it is, because it's all just another part of the prompt.