Classes, Monsters, and Anti-Patterns in AI Coding

Generative AI changed how software gets built. It also changed how teams fail.
 

The AI Developer's Field Guide gives developers, engineering managers, and technical leaders a practical vocabulary for recognizing the anti-patterns of AI-assisted coding. Timothy O'Brien uses an illustrated, role-playing-inspired framework of classes, artifacts, spells, and monsters to make recurring engineering problems easier to recognize and discuss.

Meet the Fighter, Wizard, Rogue, and Cleric: four developer archetypes with familiar strengths and tempting shortcuts. Explore the Scope Creep Kraken, Temporal Tangle Worm, Congealing Slop, Stagnant Miasma, Phantom Intern, and Probability Pixie: failures that emerge when fast, plausible output outruns understanding and judgment.

The book connects these patterns to everyday work, from code review and architectural decisions to team coordination and trust in automation. Practical interventions identify who should act, what to ask, and which habits need to change.

This revised second edition updates the discussion for agentic coding workflows, connected tools, persistent context, and AI code review, with added attention to agent boundaries and version-aware context.

Volume I of The Slop Codex, this field guide combines humor, recognizable situations, and practical engineering advice to help teams use AI coding tools with greater care, clarity, and responsibility. No tabletop gaming experience is required.