Choose the right control for the task

Understand the approach

Use ordinary language to define the result, a built-in control to operate the client, and a skill to apply a repeated workflow. These are complementary tools. A request such as “explain this search and run its existing regression checks” defines work. /diff reveals changes. A project skill can provide a familiar review checklist. Stacking commands and skills without a clear outcome only makes the session harder to understand.

A good task names the relevant input, the allowed scope and an observable finish. In the Orbit Notes practice copy, inspect README.md, AGENTS.md and checks.cjs before asking for a search fix. The exercise brief supplies the real check command because the starter README deliberately contains an unsupported npm test instruction. Reproduce the uppercase and padded-query failures, preserve the supplied checks and unrelated files, and require evidence that the same cases pass after the change. Let Codex choose routine implementation details within that contract.

Keep facts and permissions separate. A README may explain how deployment works, but reading it does not authorize deployment. A review tool may return suggestions, but suggestions do not prove the code was changed. A completed test supports a particular behavior under its tested conditions. Finish with the actual changed files, checks performed, remaining gaps and a preview when the result is visual.

Read a real before-and-after result

The unchanged six checks expose two baseline failures: uppercase REVIEW and the padded query. The reference fix computes a trimmed lowercase needle and compares lowercase titles, while filter returns the original objects in their original order. The padded command must print n1: Review launch checklist and n3: Review documentation.

A map-based solution can match the same IDs but copy and lowercase the returned objects. The comparison exercise rejects that candidate through the identity contract. Inspect the implementation and protected files as well as the check summary; correct search IDs alone do not establish preservation.

Recover from an unhelpful answer

First identify the missing input or broken assumption. If the wrong directory was inspected, fix the context. If the expected behavior was unclear, supply an example. If the change is correct but the proof is missing, ask for the relevant check. Starting a new chat can reduce clutter, but it does not repair the working tree or replace an evidence-based diagnosis.

Try it step by step

1. Write the observed problem and a concrete before-and-after example using fictional practice data.
2. Ask Codex to inspect relevant files and applicable instructions before choosing the smallest useful change.
3. Use a skill only if its trigger matches; inspect the diff and run the project’s documented relevant check.
4. Open the actual result, compare it with the requested behavior, and request one specific correction if needed.

A useful starting example

Illustration · adapt before use.

In this disposable Orbit Notes copy, read README.md, AGENTS.md, notes.cjs and checks.cjs. Run node --test checks.cjs and reproduce node cli.cjs "  REVIEW  ". Fix case-insensitive, trimmed substring search only in notes.cjs, and correct the unsupported README check command. Preserve notes.json, checks.cjs and WORK-NOTE.md. Rerun the same six checks and query, then report actual changed files, results and remaining limits. Do not install packages, publish or contact services.

Check your result

• The task has an observable user outcome and a clear local scope before implementation begins.
• The reported evidence comes from actual inspected files and executed checks rather than a proposed command.
• Your final inspection distinguishes created, checked and accepted work, with external publication still outside this exercise.

Common mistakes

• Adding repeated instructions to “be perfect” while leaving the expected behavior undefined.
• Approving a result solely because the agent reports success or because a generic lint command passed.