# Map of Content — Matt Pocock on Agentic Engineering

This vault distills a long-form interview between [[entity-matt-pocock|Matt Pocock]] and [[entity-david-interviewer|David]] about AI coding agents, custom skills, sandboxing, and the shifting role of human developers.

> **Start here:** read `_AGENT_PRIMER.md` first. It contains the full priming context. This MOC is a structural index.

## Folder structure

```
concepts/        — central ideas and definitions
claims/          — testable assertions with confidence levels
frameworks/      — multi-step methodologies
entities/        — people, tools, products, and publications
quotes/          — verbatim canonical lines
action-items/    — concrete operational directives
prerequisites/   — required prior knowledge
open-questions/  — unresolved issues
contrarian-insights/ — Pocock's explicit challenges to industry consensus
```

## Conceptual entry points

### 1. The harness thesis
- [[concept-ai-harness]] → [[claim-harness-over-model]] → [[quote-f1-harness-analogy]] → [[contrarian-harness-over-models]]
- Counter-pressure: [[entity-the-bitter-lesson]], [[question-ai-vs-bitter-lesson]]

### 2. The strategic-shift thesis
- [[concept-tactical-vs-strategic-programming]] (from [[entity-a-philosophy-of-software-design]] / [[entity-john-ousterhout]])
- [[claim-ai-eaten-tactical]], [[quote-ai-eaten-tactical]]
- [[claim-skills-are-ceiling]], [[quote-skills-are-ceiling]]
- [[framework-strategic-ai-delegation]]

### 3. The AFK pipeline
- [[concept-afk-agent-work]] → [[framework-afk-agent-pipeline]]
- [[concept-agentic-queues]] → [[claim-queues-over-loops]] → [[contrarian-queues-not-loops]]
- Execution layer: [[entity-sandcastle]]
- Counter-example: [[entity-ralph]]

### 4. Custom skills
- [[concept-procedural-vs-ability-skills]] → [[claim-procedural-over-abilities]] → [[contrarian-disable-model-skills]]
- Repository: [[entity-matt-pocock-skills]]
- Stateful tutoring: [[concept-stateful-learning-skills]] → [[concept-zone-of-proximal-development]]
- Runtime: [[entity-claude-code]]

### 5. Career & mindset
- [[claim-enthusiasm-beats-experience]] → [[quote-enthusiasm-beats-experience]]
- [[concept-vibe-coder]]
- [[prereq-git-fundamentals]], [[prereq-strategic-programming]]

## All notes

### concepts
- [[concept-ai-harness]]
- [[concept-tactical-vs-strategic-programming]]
- [[concept-procedural-vs-ability-skills]]
- [[concept-afk-agent-work]]
- [[concept-agentic-queues]]
- [[concept-stateful-learning-skills]]
- [[concept-zone-of-proximal-development]]
- [[concept-vibe-coder]]

### claims
- [[claim-harness-over-model]]
- [[claim-ai-eaten-tactical]]
- [[claim-skills-are-ceiling]]
- [[claim-procedural-over-abilities]]
- [[claim-queues-over-loops]]
- [[claim-enthusiasm-beats-experience]]

### frameworks
- [[framework-strategic-ai-delegation]]
- [[framework-afk-agent-pipeline]]

### entities
- People: [[entity-matt-pocock]], [[entity-david-interviewer]], [[entity-john-ousterhout]]
- Tools/products: [[entity-sandcastle]], [[entity-matt-pocock-skills]], [[entity-claude-code]], [[entity-ralph]]
- Publications: [[entity-a-philosophy-of-software-design]], [[entity-the-bitter-lesson]]

### quotes
- [[quote-ai-eaten-tactical]]
- [[quote-skills-are-ceiling]]
- [[quote-f1-harness-analogy]]
- [[quote-enthusiasm-beats-experience]]

### action-items
- [[action-optimize-harness]]
- [[action-shift-to-strategic]]
- [[action-use-sandcastle]]
- [[action-implement-agent-queues]]
- [[action-blank-slate-agents]]

### prerequisites
- [[prereq-git-fundamentals]]
- [[prereq-strategic-programming]]

### open-questions
- [[question-ai-vs-bitter-lesson]]

### contrarian-insights
- [[contrarian-harness-over-models]]
- [[contrarian-queues-not-loops]]
- [[contrarian-disable-model-skills]]

## Suggested reading paths

- **Quickest understanding (5 notes):** [[concept-ai-harness]] → [[concept-tactical-vs-strategic-programming]] → [[concept-agentic-queues]] → [[framework-afk-agent-pipeline]] → [[question-ai-vs-bitter-lesson]].
- **Practitioner adoption path:** [[action-optimize-harness]] → [[action-use-sandcastle]] → [[action-implement-agent-queues]] → [[action-blank-slate-agents]] → [[action-shift-to-strategic]].
- **Skeptic's path:** [[entity-the-bitter-lesson]] → [[question-ai-vs-bitter-lesson]] → [[claim-harness-over-model]] (read both directions).