Who it is for
For developers using AI coding agents who want every red-to-green cycle to ship production-ready code instead of just "it works.".
Agentic AI Coding / intermediate
Ship It with Tests
Give Claude Code an external oracle: with test-driven workflows, every red-to-green cycle produces shippable, production-ready code.
The problem
It starts with the situation you're actually in.
A few weeks into using an AI coding agent, most teams hit the same quiet problem: the agent writes a function, says it works, and moves on. This book removes that blind spot.
You've run the loop—written the failing test, watched it fail, committed it, and let the agent code until the suite went green. The moment you pause there is exactly what matters.
Outcomes
What you'll be able to do.
Know what the agent reads before it acts
You see exactly what the agent takes in when it first opens your repository—and why its early choices aren't the model being careless.
The Cycle, Not the Trick
You run test-driven agent work as a real sequence with checkpoints, not the empty slogan "write tests first.".
The Green That Lied
You stop trusting a green run on faith. Ask the agent for a discount calculator, skim the summary, nod, and you'll learn where that bites.
The Oracle Is the Only State That Travels
You run a full red-to-green loop in one session—open the project, let the agent read the failing tests and implement until green, confirm the diff, commit—knowing the oracle is the only state that carries forward.
Inside the book
A closer look at the work inside.
Score your current verification health
Rate each line for the project you just examined. Use a simple scale: 2 = consistently true, 1 = sometimes, 0 = rarely or never.
- Independent tests exist. Most shipped features have at least one test the agent did not write to merely echo its own implementation.
- Tests precede code. Failing tests are written and confirmed red before the implementation, not reverse-engineered afterward.
- The suite is fast and deterministic.
Build your prioritized backlog
This is the deliverable. Set aside twenty minutes and run your real backlog through the score: pull eight to twelve real tasks from your tracker—features, refactors, and bug fixes you expect to hand the agent in the next two weeks. Mix them; don't pre-filter to the "important" ones.
Before you score, confirm the frame
- You're scoring the task, not your enthusiasm for it.
- Verifiability means a concrete output you can assert, not "it's important.".
- Blast radius counts callers and downstream effects, not lines changed.
- Rework cost asks how expensive the bug is if found late, not how hard the code is.
- A 3–4 task gets the risky behavior pinned, not full coverage and not nothing.
- Every test-first task has one named assertion before the agent starts.
The task that doesn't deserve a test, and the one that does
- Verifiability — Can correctness be pinned to a concrete, checkable outcome? Proration produces a number you can assert against. "Make the dashboard feel snappier" does not.
- Blast radius — How far does a silent failure spread? Code in a shared library, an auth path, a money path, or a data-write path can break callers you never touched.
- Rework cost — What does it cost to discover the bug late instead of now? A failed migration on a production table, a corrupted export a customer already downloaded, a miscalculated.
Scoring three real tasks
Walk three tasks from an actual web-app backlog through the table. Task A—prorate mid-cycle plan upgrades. Verifiability: 2 (the proration is a number; you can assert exact amounts for known inputs). Blast radius: 2 (it's a money path feeding invoices and revenue reports).
Ship It with Tests frameworkInside the book
Visual preview
A diagram you can keep open while you work.
Table of contents
8 chapters, built to be read in order.
01
Tests as the Agent's Oracle
02
Where Test-Driven Agent Work Pays Off
03
Building the Workspace the Agent Trusts
04
The Red-to-Green Loop in Practice
05
Writing Tests the Agent Can't Game
06
Keeping the Agent Honest
07
Scaling Across Long and Parallel Sessions
08
Ship It
122
Pages
11,636
Words
36
Exercises, checklists & tools
8
Chapters
Formats
Three formats. One purchase.
EPUB, PDF, and HTML are included so the book can work on an e-reader, as a designed copy, or as a searchable desk reference.
EPUB
For e-readers and reading apps.
The designed edition with diagrams and layouts intact.
HTML
Searchable, copy-pasteable, and practical as a reference.
Complete guide
Ship It with Tests
$9.99
intermediate guide pricing
- ✓EPUB + PDF + HTML included in one purchase
- ✓8 chapters from the complete guide
- ✓DRM-free files for your own devices
- ✓7-day refund review for duplicate purchases, access issues, wrong files, or materially defective downloads
Secure checkout / instant download / tax handled at checkout
Before you buy
Questions, answered.
Does this include the full book?
Yes. You get the complete edition, including the chapter sequence and internal materials described on this page.
Which formats are included?
EPUB, PDF, and HTML are included so you can read on an e-reader, keep a designed copy, or use the searchable browser version.
What is the refund policy?
Because this is an instant digital download, broad change-of-mind refunds are not offered after the files have been accessed. Refund requests are reviewed within 7 days for duplicate purchases, accidental purchases before access, access failures we cannot fix, wrong files, corrupted files, or pages that materially misdescribe the book.