You will need:
- ChatGPT Plus or higher account
- Codex installed locally
- Linear account – a free account gives you up to 250 Issues which will get you started and a paid account starts at [tk] which I find to be worth it and I’m stingy.
- Ponytail
I’m continually refining this, but what I’ve found works best is to start by getting ChatGPT (Chat not Work) to create a PRD.md (Product Requirements Document). I get this started by using a prompt like
Create a PRD.md for an AI-assisted app to teach non-fiction writing to a reasonably intelligent complete beginner. I will be using FastAPI for the backend, and for the front end choose modern HTML and CSS over Javascript wherever possible. Ask me up to 50 questions.
Use the best model possible as in Chat it won’t use up your tokens. There is a usage limit but it’s pretty massive, I’ve only hit it once.
Give it a maximum amount of questions to ask, otherwise it will go on forever and the scope will drift. You can always update the PRD or make a new one for the next version of your product.
If you’ve got any particular technology stack choices, add those as well.
Once you’re happy with the PRD, connect up Linear as a plugin in ChatGPT. Use a prompt like
Split this project up into the smallest possible Issues and add them to a new project in @Linear within Milestones. Add labels and record blocking relationships between issues.
Once all the Issues have been added to Linear, it’s time to start Codex off building your creation. Install Ponytail in Codex by
[Details]
This is ingenious and I suspect I have only scratched the surface. Ever heard the theory that the best programmers are the laziest programmers? This is the personification. It will not let your coding agent create something overly complicated that you don’t understand, spawns 64 sub-agents and munches through your tokens in half an hour.
Create a new project in Codex, choosing the Local option
Use a prompt like this to set Codex to work:
Work on the Issues in Milestone [Number] in the @Linear Project [Project]. Check planned work with @Ponytail before proceeding. Update the statuses of the Issues as you go along and add handoff notes, and commit to Git after each Milestone.
Use Luna High as your model and it does the job pretty well because the tasks you’re asking it to do are tightly defined. Work your way through the Milestones until you’ve got something useful. I make a new chat for each Milestone to keep things organised.
Between Milestones you can preview your product in the Codex browser window and add annotations to interface elements you want changed.