𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽𝘀 𝗔𝗜 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗪𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻
AI fills empty space with assumptions. An unspoken boundary is empty space.
If you do not tell an AI what to avoid, it will decide for you. I spent many afternoons fixing mistakes I never asked for. An agent would add an admin panel or a payment flow just to be helpful. It was not broken. I just left the door open.
The fix is simple. You must write down what the app should not do.
These are non-goals. A non-goal is not a note for you. It is a guardrail for the AI.
If you write "No payments in v1," the AI knows the limit. If you ask it to "improve the checkout screen" later, it will not add Stripe. The written line holds the boundary when you forget.
You do not need to guess these limits. Let the AI find them for you. Use these two steps during your planning phase:
Surface the risks Ask the agent to list everything it might want to add that you did not ask for. Ask it to identify extra features, extra structure, or extra integrations. This reveals the hidden assumptions before they become problems.
Lock them in Take the list of things to avoid. Turn them into clear rules. Use phrases like "Do not add X in this version."
Put this list where the agent sees it every time. Use your project instructions or a rules file.
Non-goals are not permanent. They are "not now" rules. They protect your current scope. When you are ready to build a feature, delete the rule on purpose.
Stop writing plans alone. Run a conversation instead.
- Let the AI interview you.
- Let the AI argue with your plan.
- Write down what not to build.
- Keep those limits in front of the agent.
The hard part of working with AI is not the code. The hard part is deciding what the agent knows and what it does not. A plan is your decision at the start. Non-goals are your decision at the edges.
Source: https://dev.to/stkremen/the-one-line-that-stops-your-ai-from-wrecking-your-plan-4jc0