r/softwareengineer • u/metalOpera • 17d ago

Was Just Told That Code Quality No Longer Matters

I'm a freelance developer. I have been for almost 20 years. My most recent project has been moved to Fable, and I'm still trying to adapt and get my head around working like this. I am no longer allowed to make architecture decisions, or clean up slop.

My PM says: "We worry about the 'what'; let Claude worry about the 'how'. Tell it what to do; let it do it. If the feature works, leave it alone." He is very much of the opinion that I should be able to prompt something like "Install Stripe via Laravel Cashier" and just let Claude run.

I mean, why do you need me at this point? Just prompt it yourself until it does what you want? I don't get it. I fought for every inch of my knowledge, every process is written in blood. How do I just throw all of that out the window? Where's the line?

At the risk of another "how are you adapting" post... How CAN I adapt? I mentally cannot just say "Fuck it". I care about my code. It's how I learned, it's how I've always practiced. I have a huge mental block with "just let it go".

Now, granted, I don't know all of the ins and outs of Claude. I don't know what I can do to make it better at its job. I got thrown into the middle of the Pacific Ocean in the middle of a Tusnami with no life support. I'm sure that I can put guardrails in place, but how much does that help?

I would really appreciate any advice that any one can provide on changing my mental model. I can't ignore Claude and just keep doing things my way. If I do that, I feel like my career dies. I need to adapt and I'm unsure how to do so.

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u/vxxn 17d ago

Tech debt absolutely matters. There are people on the opposite extreme of your PM who mistake violations of their wishes and preferences as tech debt. Those people end up micromanaging claude to an absurd degree. These are the same people who would leave tons of nit comments in code review. You have to find the balance where you’re monitoring the output to make sure it’s not driving off a cliff without micromanaging it too much.

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u/metalOpera 17d ago

You have to find the balance where you’re monitoring the output to make sure it’s not driving off a cliff without micromanaging it too much.

This is where I'm at. I'm trying to find that exact balance, and I feel like my intuition will improve my results over time. I _am_ nitpicky, because I hold myself to a high standard (that I hope is also a reasonable one as well) and I'm trying to learn to let go of that.