The Self-Writing Future: When AI Builds Itself and Developers Become Directors

December 27, 2025 · 6 source posts

The Recursive Revolution: AI Writing Its Own Code

Perhaps the most striking revelation of the day comes from Boris Cherny, who made an extraordinary claim about Claude Code's development:

"In the last thirty days, 100% of my contributions to Claude Code were written by Claude Code"

This represents a significant milestone—an AI coding assistant that has effectively taken over its own development. The implications are profound: we're witnessing the early stages of recursive self-improvement in practical, production software.

Breaking Through the Context Ceiling

Dhravya Shah highlighted a fundamental limitation that's plagued coding agents and announced a potential solution:

"Coding agents get stupider as the thread gets longer and longer. And seem to forget even the basic details, from the same thread. Stateful agents can learn, improve and grow with the user, project, learning and adapting to their preferences and workflows."

The promise of stateful agents that maintain persistent context represents a major architectural shift. Rather than treating each session as isolated, these agents accumulate knowledge about projects and user preferences over time. Shah claims this approach has "completely replaced Claude Code / droids" for his workflow.

The Coming Flood

Corbin Braun offered a prediction that captures the current moment's tension between early adopters and mainstream awareness:

"Right now, anyone who is deep in tech and coding is realizing Opus 4.5 has broken the ceiling, making it so you can code anything now. The only cost is time."

His warning to current builders is pointed: the competitive moat of technical ability is eroding rapidly. When the next model arrives, he predicts "MASS adoption" that will make today's app marketing challenges seem trivial.

The Lighter Side: Agents for Everything

Peter Yang provided comic relief with a satirical take on the agent proliferation trend, describing a fictional .claude/agents/ directory structure for replacing family members:

"daughters/snack-negotiator.md, why-asker.md... parents/unsolicited-advice-generator.md, guilt-trip-scheduler.md"

The joke lands because it highlights both the absurdity and the genuine pattern of developers creating specialized agents for increasingly narrow use cases.

Beyond Code: AI Image Generation Evolves

A detailed prompt shared by @kingofdairyque demonstrates how sophisticated image generation has become, with users crafting elaborate specifications covering everything from "venetian blind shadow effects" to "Kodak Portra 400-style color grading." The prompt engineering for visual AI has developed its own specialized vocabulary and conventions.

Practical Automation: The iPhone Lost Mode Hack

In a reminder that useful automation doesn't require cutting-edge AI, Rollandex shared an iOS Shortcuts recipe that automatically captures a photo and location when a trigger word is texted to a stolen phone. Sometimes the most valuable tools are the ones already in your pocket.

Analysis

Today's posts reveal a community at an inflection point. The technical barriers that once separated "developers" from "everyone else" are dissolving faster than most anticipated. The recursive nature of AI improving AI—as demonstrated by Claude Code writing its own features—suggests we're entering a phase of accelerating capability growth.

The emergence of stateful agents addresses one of the most frustrating limitations of current tools. If agents can truly maintain context and learn preferences over time, we move from "AI as tool" toward "AI as collaborator."

The question hovering over all of this: what happens to the value of technical skills when building software becomes as accessible as writing a document? The early movers are racing to build before that wall comes down.

Source Posts

Rollandex🧞 ✪ @iamrollandex · Dec 27

If your phone goes missing, you can easily see who stole it and exactly where it is - Open Shortcuts and select Automation. - Then tap Create Personal Automation. - Choose Message and set a trigger word (example: LOST) Actions (in this order): • Set Low Power Mode → ON • Take Photo → Front camera (preview OFF) • Get Current Location • Send Message → your number (photo + location) Turn Ask Before Running → OFF Turn Notify When Run → OFF Anytime that keyword is sent from any phone, it runs automatically.

Peter Yang @petergyang · Dec 27

This is nothing. I LITERALLY created an agent to replace my entire family during the holidays: .claude/ - agents/ - daughters/ - snack-negotiator[.]md - why-asker[.]md - sibling-conflict-instigator[.]md - screen-time-lobbyist[.]md - spouse/ - calendar-synchronizer[.]md - dinner-decider[.]md - social-commitment-rememberer[.]md - gentle-reality-checker[.]md - parents/ - unsolicited-advice-generator[.]md - guilt-trip-scheduler[.]md - grandkid-spoiler[.]md

Dhravya Shah @DhravyaShah · Dec 27

this has been a magical experience internally for our entire team. coding agents get stupider as the thread gets longer and longer. and seem to forget even the basic details, from the same thread. Stateful agents can learn, improve and grow with the user, project, learning and adapting to their preferences and workflows. With this opencode plugin (and continuous learning that it enables), it's truly insane what is possible now. This has completely replaced claude code / droids for me.

corbin @corbin_braun · Dec 27

My 2026 prediction: Right now, anyone who is deep in tech and coding is realizing Opus 4.5 has broken the ceiling, making it so you can code anything now. The only cost is time. When the next model comes out, this will be the breakthrough moment where all of mainstream floods in and everyone is going to create an app. If you know how good coding is with AI now, work hard and work fast. Soon, the wall is going to break down and it will be MASS adoption. You think marketing your app is hard now? Oh, just wait...

simply @kingofdairyque · Dec 27

Using my photo as a strict and non-negotiable reference, preserve 100% of my facial identity — exact facial features, proportions, bone structure, skin texture, and natural expression. Do not alter, beautify, idealize, or stylize the face in any way. The face must remain fully authentic, realistic, and unchanged. Create a hyper-realistic medium shot of a young woman sitting casually on a marble bathroom vanity countertop in a luxury interior. The image must follow real photographic logic, anatomy, and lighting behavior, avoiding any CGI or artificial look. Subject & Pose The woman sits naturally on the edge of the vanity, relaxed and confident. Her posture is realistic, with natural weight distribution. Her legs are crossed casually at the ankles or resting in a relaxed position. One hand gently runs through her hair, while the other rests naturally on her thigh. She smiles warmly and looks directly into the camera, creating an intimate, candid connection. Outfit & Styling She wears a short satin slip dress with thin spaghetti straps and a softly gathered bust. The fabric behaves realistically: visible sheen from light natural folds and tension accurate drape and gravity A delicate pendant necklace completes the look. Makeup is minimal and editorial — natural skin texture, soft blush, subtle lip shine, no heavy contouring. Environment A refined luxury bathroom interior: beige, speckled stone or ceramic tile walls white and grey marble vanity countertop dark wood cabinetry beneath A large rectangular mirror with a wooden frame is positioned directly behind her, reflecting her back and a wooden door, adding depth and realism to the composition. Foreground Props On the marble countertop in the foreground: a dark luxury perfume bottle with metallic accents makeup brushes an open lipstick small skincare jars To her right sits a white vessel sink. All objects are realistically scaled, naturally placed, and softly integrated into the scene. Lighting & Atmosphere Warm, cinematic side lighting enters from the right, mimicking golden-hour sunlight. Distinct striped shadows (venetian blind / gobo effect) fall across her legs and the lower cabinetry. Light behaves naturally: soft highlights gentle falloff realistic contrast The mood is intimate, cozy, and sun-drenched. Camera & Photography Style Lifestyle and fashion editorial photography. Eye-level to slightly low camera angle. 50–85mm portrait lens look. Shallow depth of field with soft background separation. 35mm film aesthetic with subtle grain. Kodak Portra 400–style color grading: warm skin tones, gentle contrast, organic texture. Natural light only, no flash. Overall Mood Intimate luxury, candid elegance, modern femininity. A private, cinematic moment captured with the realism and softness of analog film photography. Negative Prompt altered face, different identity, idealized beauty, flawless skin, plastic or waxy texture, CGI, digital art, illustration, artificial lighting, broken anatomy, distorted hands, harsh shadows, overprocessed skin, cartoon style

Boris Cherny @bcherny · Dec 27

@YashGouravKar1 Correct. In the last thirty days, 100% of my contributions to Claude Code were written by Claude Code