RDDD – When is a 404 not a 404?

Chris Ward, an AI Solutions Architect from London, proposes Request Discovery Driven Development (RDDD), a method that captures HTTP interactions from the frontend to guide backend implementation, reducing token-spend compared to vibe-coding. The process can be automated with optional human review and LLM fine-tuning, and is presented as a way to meet developers in the request transit-layer.

When is a 404 not a 404? Request Discovery Driven Development is a development method in which HTTP interactions are captured from the frontend, reviewed as candidate capabilities, and subsequently turned into deliberate backend implementations. The interface of the process can be driven by automation with light inference. For the purposes of AI-accelerated development, this method uses considerably less token-spend than vibe-coded web apps, and optionally keeps a human in the loop. We have seen the advent of vibe-coding, initially in-line to the IDE, and then to the terminal, although I am arguing that we should meet the developer where they actually work; in the transit-layer, the request. The process may be done autonomously, although it is recommended to review the intent and make adjustments between these steps; if this feeback is gathered, an LLM model can be finetuned to provide improved results. By moving the focus to the browser, multiple parties can now interact with the stages of development. Within a system that leverages HATEOAS, and with the intent of creating a page that sends a POST request via a generated form, the server will return a 404 and the steps may be repeated. In the context of a 50x error from the web server, the request and context can be investigated for further changes. Chris is an AI Solutions Architect from London, England. Available on LinkedIn https://linkedin.com/in/chrisbward and X https://x.com/chrisbward .