# Agent task briefing checklist — 10 anti-patterns (free)

> Source: <https://dev.to/briefstack_alex/agent-task-briefing-checklist-10-anti-patterns-free-20nl>
> Published: 2026-09-30 11:32:44+00:00

If you hand work to an AI agent (Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, custom agents), most failures trace back to the brief, not the model. Here are 10 anti-patterns I keep seeing, each with a one-line fix. Copy freely.

Smell these in your briefs. Each wastes tokens, time, or trust.

“Make it better.” / “Clean this up.” / “Explore options.”

**Fix:** Name the artifact and the acceptance test.

Tools say “repo write: Y” with no path limits.

**Fix:** Allowlist directories; forbid `.env`, secrets, infra by default.

“Research the market” with no table, memo, or decision.

**Fix:** Definition of Done = files a human will open in a meeting.

“Be exhaustive” + “max 10 minutes” + “cite everything.”

**Fix:** Rank constraints; mark Hard vs Soft.

API keys in the brief “for convenience.”

**Fix:** Point to a secret manager / env name; never paste values.

“Whatever you need to get it done.”

**Fix:** Escalation table; stop conditions.

No human owner → agent invents product policy.

**Fix:** Owner field required; acceptance is a human step.

“Write in our voice” with no voice doc or samples.

**Fix:** Link 2 good examples or a 10-line voice sheet.

“Confidence must be 95%.”

**Fix:** Ask for source grades and `assumption` tags instead.

Out of scope empty → agent expands forever.

**Fix:** At least two explicit non-goals.

*This is a free excerpt from a small set of briefing templates I sell. If you want the full fill-in-the-blank packs (briefing, eval, digest, research, incident), they're at [https://briefstack.surge.sh/](https://briefstack.surge.sh/) — the list above is useful on its own either way.*