What to Hand It First
New users of a coding agent tend to swing between two extremes: asking for an entire app in one message, or asking only questions they could have searched. The sweet spot sits in between — bounded tasks you can check.
The rule
Hand it tasks you can describe clearly and check quickly.
| Use | Tiffin example | How you check it |
|---|---|---|
| Understand code | "How does an order travel from the form to the database?" | Follow its answer through the files |
| Fix a bug | "Weekly customers pay the one-day price" | The failing test now passes |
| Write tests | "Add tests for pricing.py" |
They run, and fail if you break the code |
| Refactor | "Split orders.py into scheduling and billing" |
Old tests pass without being edited |
| Chores | Commit messages, docs, small dependency updates | Read the result |
| One-off scripts | "Count orders per office from this CSV" | Spot-check a few numbers |
Poor fits are tasks where "done" cannot be stated ("make it better"), giant rewrites in one go, and anything that depends on knowledge only in someone's head — such as the kitchen's unwritten festival pricing — until you write that knowledge down.
Notice that every good row has a check you can run in minutes. That is not a coincidence. An agent can produce a lot of change quickly, and the check is what turns that speed into progress rather than noise. A task without a check is not ready yet; it needs one more sentence from you.
The shortcut
Ask two quick questions: Can I say what "done" looks like in one sentence? Can I check it in a few minutes? Two yeses: hand it over. A no: shrink the task, or write the check first.
"Make the app faster"
No clear "done". Shrink it: "Find why the orders page takes three seconds and propose fixes. Don't edit anything yet."
The trap is a vague request that sounds clear because you know what you meant. Claude only knows what you wrote.
Drills
Answer fast — trust the rule.
Which task is ready to hand over as written?
"Make the app faster." What is the best rewrite?
How do you check a refactor Claude has done?
Which task is a poor fit until you write the missing information down?
Remember
- Hand it tasks you can describe clearly and check quickly.
- Shortcut: a one-sentence "done" plus a check you can run in minutes.
- Trap: requests that feel clear only because the missing knowledge is in your head.