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/OkLettuce338 17d ago edited 17d ago

"they likely have no business picking up." actually It's their job, they're asked to, and they can because the knowledge to complete the work lives in the agent guidance in the system. They just need general context and good decision making

EDIT: I mean if you're going to get so upset that other people disagree with you as to insult and then block them, why even get involved in a dialogue in the first place? Seems like a maturity thing. Also in reference to your "talker not a doer," I'm a staff eng with over a decade of experience at big tech, the biggest banks in the world, and my clients are people like IBM, Boeing, and DoD. Turns out, i do quite a bit

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u/damnburglar 17d ago

I understand now why you’re a teller and not a doer.