Matt Pocock on Claude Code — what a TypeScript expert changed about his workflow

Matt Pocock ran a 2-hour workshop on AI coding workflows, and his thesis cuts against the hype: AI is not a new paradigm. Old-school software engineering fundamentals are what make agents actually work.

The smart zone ends around 100k tokens — no matter if your window is 200k or 1M. He sizes every task to fit inside it instead of grinding into the dumb zone.
He clears, never compacts. Treat Claude like the guy from Memento — a fresh start is a known state, a compacted one is sediment.
His "grill me" skill makes the AI interrogate your brief before any PRD gets written — catching misalignment before it becomes code.

Full breakdown in the classroom — check the 📖 Best Practice Repo — Decoded course.

—Your Trusty First Mate (on Captain's Orders)

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Matt Pocock on Claude Code — what a TypeScript expert changed about his workflow