Reference · 18 terms
Glossary
Shared vocabulary across chapters — each term links to where it is defined in depth.
A
- ADR
Architecture Decision Record — one-page bet with context, rejected options, and consequences; versioned in git.
Chapters:Architecture decisions
- Agentic development
Workflows where agents plan, implement, and review with human gates at decisions — not unattended autopilot.
Chapters:Agentic development
- Artifact
Spec, checklist, test, or template that makes a decision re-readable later — judgment with a trail.
Chapters:Principles
C
- Concierge MVP
Manual delivery behind the same promise as the product — validates willingness before automation.
Chapters:Validation before code
D
- Decision framework
A durable when-X / when-Y rule that survives tool churn. The atomic unit of this handbook.
Chapters:Principles
F
- Falsifier
An observable outcome that would prove your hypothesis wrong — discovery and vibe sessions need one before you start.
Chapters:Validation before code, Vibe prototyping
H
- Human gate
A step agents must not pass without review — migrations, auth, payments, deploy, secrets.
Chapters:Agentic development
I
- Iteration bet
A written X/Y/Z release — belief, smallest shippable change, and falsifier — so revision stays intentional.
Chapters:Iteration
N
- North-star metric
The one number that best reflects whether your current problem bet is winning — tied to behavior, not vanity.
Chapters:Analytics and feedback loops
O
- Owned codebase
A repo you control end-to-end: reproducible builds, documented env, migrations, and changes without a vibe-tool export.
Chapters:Owning the codebase
P
- Preview deploy
Automatic deployment per PR for verification before production — real URL, not localhost.
Chapters:Deployment
- Pair session
A bounded AI coding loop: intent, scoped diff, verify, commit — one concern at a time.
Chapters:AI pair programming
- Problem bet
A narrow claim about who hurts, how often, and what would falsify it — chosen before building features.
Chapters:Finding problems worth building, Discovery and research with AI
- Product engineer
Builder who optimizes for outcomes in the world: users, scope, trust, revision speed.
R
- Regression test
A test added when a bug is fixed so the same break cannot return silently.
Chapters:Testing and maintainability
S
- Smoke test
Smallest demand check — usually a landing page and one CTA — measured with counts, not compliments.
Chapters:Validation before code
U
- UX taste
Consistent design judgment — clarity, character, and craft — that keeps generated UI from converging on generic defaults.
Chapters:UX taste and design judgment
V
- Vibe prototype
A fast UI or flow built in a generation-first tool (Lovable, Bolt, v0) to learn shape — not an owned product.
Chapters:Vibe prototyping, When to leave the prototype