AI generates code fast. It also generates technical debt fast. I audited my AI-generated projects after 6 months and found a clear pattern of debt accumulation. Here is how to prevent it. What type of technical debt does AI generate most? Duplication. The AI solves the same problem in different ways across different files. A…

Monorepos are challenging for AI because the context window fills up with irrelevant files. I worked on a 200-file monorepo for 3 months. Here is the AI workflow that scaled. How do you keep AI context focused in a monorepo? Create narrow-scope context files. Instead of one massive .cursorrules, I use package-level rules files. Each…

The line is crossed when your prompt describes implementation detail instead of intent. At that point the AI is assisting you, not driving the work.

Hardcoded secrets turned up in more than half the AI-built projects I audited. Then SQL injection from string interpolation, and tokens in localStorage.

Mine hit at month three: the app worked, the codebase did not. Inconsistent patterns, no error handling, no tests. The debt arrives anyway.

Four folders: core for code I wrote and reviewed, features for what the AI generates, shared for both, tests for all of it. The AI stops touching core.

Refactor when the code works but fights your patterns. Rewrite when the data model is wrong. Naming and error handling are linter fixes, not rewrites.

Set the architecture rules in .cursorrules before the first prompt, let linters enforce patterns, and review every AI change like a junior’s pull request.

A scheduling tool cost me $60 a month in tool fees. The same scope at a contractor’s $50-150 an hour is a different number. Where the math stops working.

Three to five times faster on standard features, and about twice as many bugs. I built a scheduling tool in two weeks that would have taken six by hand.

In vibe coding the AI writes most of it and you review. In AI-assisted coding you write and the AI suggests. Who holds the keyboard is the difference.

Four guardrails carry the weight: permission boundaries, approval gates, rate limits, and an audit trail. Skip one and the agent finds the gap.