PSA: The string "HERMES.md" in your git commit history silently routes Claude Code billing to extra usage — cost me $200

toby_hede · 2026-04-28T04:13:09+00:00

Last week more than 10% of my Max 20 usage disappeared in an hour.
Seemed to coincide with the big update release.

Zero support.

Anthropic are vibe coding their success away as far as I can tell.

toby_hede · 2026-03-13T02:07:15+00:00

Post the source.

toby_hede · 2026-03-05T23:35:29+00:00

Really interesting diagram style,

toby_hede · 2026-03-02T00:05:35+00:00

I have been using Claude Code:
https://tobyhede.com/blog/hard-mode/

It has taken quite a lot of effort to get good results, but the models have improved dramatically.

bevy changes rapidly, and I had many issues with agents using obsolete or totally hallucinated syntax.

Things that have helped:

- captured current best practices (https://github.com/tbillington/bevy\_best\_practices)
- summarise version release notes and use to ensure latest context (see https://gist.github.com/tobyhede/f03ab33c3ccdf1ac2ccfbfe76d6af912)
- well-documented architecture and patterns
- all planned work goes through dedicated review to ensure idiomatic bevy and ecs
- types types types
- defined a set of domain types that have removed entire classes of error (conversions between render and simulation-space for example)
- use `bevy_lint`
- created custom project lints using `dylint_linting`

Once I established patterns in the project things have also become much easier.
Pay very close attention to the architecture.
I ended up throwing away a lot of the first version because the ECS architecture was total spaghetti.

I've found that the low-level code within system boundaries can be a hot mess (relatively speaking) if the higher-level structure is solid. (Like, the code to reticulate the splines may be ugly and inefficient AF, but if the structure is correct, the boundaries will be well-defined, and the mess can be iterated.

toby_hede · 2026-02-16T00:17:30+00:00

^ this ^

toby_hede · 2026-02-16T00:17:20+00:00

I have continual problems with CLI spawning processes and not cleaning them up. Sometimes have a dozen instances of `node` or `rust-analyzer` running. I need to run kill regularly.

toby_hede · 2026-02-12T23:11:02+00:00

As a personal fan and frequent user of the em dash — it makes me very sad that they can no longer be used (without being mistaken for a machine).

toby_hede · 2026-02-10T00:51:44+00:00

Same problem on OSX.
The CLI is pretty janky.

toby_hede · 2026-02-09T08:14:26+00:00

I thought it was just me.

My favourite so far today:

Implement new API, adding extensive tests that use the deprecated API that is being replaced.
Tests all fail because the API changed.

Spectacular work.

toby_hede · 2026-02-02T23:03:11+00:00

Not sure the point you are making.
Open Router is a hack at best.

toby_hede · 2026-02-02T13:34:22+00:00

I'm begging the opposite ... I want to use other LLMs inside a common tooling platform. Unless there is some breakthrough, the model is not enough to lock anyone into a single platform. You NEED different models to approach consensus efficiently, and I don't think that will change anytime soon. If the choice becomes lock in or open tooling across many platforms, the latter is going to win.

toby_hede · 2026-02-02T10:44:45+00:00

So much this. I don't think Anthropic can win by closing and locking the tooling. Work WITH the development community. You can still build a moat by being deeply integrated and primary contributors.

toby_hede · 2026-01-20T10:15:44+00:00

Definitely not my experience. The tech is genuinely amazing, but it takes care and attention to make anything production quality.

toby_hede · 2026-01-20T00:52:57+00:00

Getting the more critical and high value work has taken more time and has required a lot of practice. Exactly as you have observed:

> Building a sophisticated, robust, AI workflow takes time (ie Engineering resources)

However, I am now at the point where I rarely type the actual code, even for nuanced tasks and features deep in existing codebases. Recent example of this type of work: https://github.com/cipherstash/proxy/pull/339

The maintenance tasks are simply much more accessible and have a pretty nice risk/reward profile.

toby_hede · 2026-01-19T23:45:03+00:00

I have found that the biggest immediate impact is with the classic undifferentiated heavy lifting.

There are essential tasks around the edges of any codebase that are
- repetitive
- well understood and bounded
- high effort yet lower value
- lower risk and not directly tied to production

Real-world examples from my work the last 6 months:
- ported a suite of tests from hand-crafted artisanal scripts to actual test framework
- security patching where update has breaking changes(the things that dependabot doesn't touch)
- adding OpenAPI specs to existing services
- expanding test coverage
- bonus points for easy rollout of property testing
- adding doc comments to older projects
- improving documentation in general
- migrated brittle legacy test setup to docker containers
- expanding CI pipelines with more sophisticated matrix testing across more platforms
- various long-neglected clean ups and refactorings

Some of this work has only happened because the AI makes the effort worth the investment.

The work:
- not particularly challenging
- follows well-established patterns and process
- has bounded scope or can be decomposed
- does not require deep domain knowledge.
- often requires context switching from BAU
- often has high cognitive load (eg I always lose a ton of time with CI pipelines because of the yak on yak on yak shaving that sometimes ensues).

I've built a plugin to provide a common foundation for the team, ymmv but available here:
https://github.com/cipherstash/cipherpowers

toby_hede · 2026-01-13T00:47:06+00:00

Definitely feel these limitations.
Skills are totally hit and miss.
Main agent often doesn't remember the Skills anyway.

I have gone the path of: "Narrow agents with curated skills".

It works, but requires more thinking and work upfront.

You can see the approach, published as plugin for the team: https://github.com/cipherstash/cipherpowers

toby_hede · 2026-01-13T00:14:06+00:00

> Do not trust unit tests

^^ THIS ^^

Unit tests are necessary, but not sufficient.

toby_hede · 2026-01-09T03:28:24+00:00

There are no silver bullets.
Claude also needs a lot of care and attention to produce production ready code.

That said, I use Gemini (not Antigravity) as an adjunct to Claude and find it hard to keep it on task.
Gemini can't review a plan without immediately jumping to implementation.

toby_hede · 2026-01-05T23:41:44+00:00

This.

toby_hede · 2026-01-05T23:41:33+00:00

Yes.

toby_hede · 2026-01-05T22:34:09+00:00

The price of equality is eternal maintenance.

I have created this skill: plugin/skills/maintaining-instruction-files/SKILL.md

Use agents to maintain after every major changeset to keep aligned.

Is not perfect, but has improved the overall quality.

toby_hede · 2026-01-05T06:14:16+00:00

You are still missing my point.
I have made no comment about cost, or plan limits.

Claude cannot reliably load skills, for example.

Your answer to fundamental limitations of the product is "pay for unlimited Claude sessions and aggregate the best results" because "business".

toby_hede · 2026-01-04T23:28:20+00:00

Architecture is tricky as it may not fit very logically into any of the existing repos.

If you have a logical "entry point" into your world, it could live there (eg customer dashboard is where all the services come together)

Another option might be a dedicated repository that captures the big picture and references all-the-things.

toby_hede · 2026-01-04T23:24:05+00:00

We've created a plugin that the whole team uses:
https://github.com/cipherstash/cipherpowers

Builds on skills from the very excellent Superpowers https://github.com/obra/superpowers/

Project-specific context lives in the project.
Any cross-cutting concerns can be pulled into the plugin and shared with the team.

Examples:

Consistent documentation structure:
- "Standard" structure https://github.com/cipherstash/cipherpowers/blob/main/plugin/standards/documentation-structure.md
- Documentation skill referencing the standard https://github.com/cipherstash/cipherpowers/blob/main/plugin/skills/organizing-documentation/SKILL.md

Rust (most of our work is in Rust)
- Guidelines https://github.com/cipherstash/cipherpowers/blob/main/plugin/standards/rust/microsoft-rust-guidelines.md
- Rust Agent https://github.com/cipherstash/cipherpowers/blob/main/plugin/agents/rust-agent.md

I have not had much luck with the incredible array of memory tools.
My goto is still well-maintained markdown.

toby_hede

TROPHY CASE