A working journal by Eric MacDougall
Notes from inside the work.
On agents, engineering judgment, infrastructure, and the gap between a convincing demo and a system you can trust.
Built in public, with sources and the edges left visible.
better evidence.FIELD NOTE 01
01 / The journal
Long reads for the decisions
behind the tools.
Each issue starts with a full overview film, then goes deeper in writing. Approved platform editions are here to read; video and conversation links join them as each goes public.
the checker?
Agents need an independent exam
The practical controls that let a fast coding agent produce work you can actually sign off.
02 / What I keep returning to
Questions worth
staying with.
Agents & control
Hooks, worktrees, role memory, and where instructions need to become enforceable systems.
Testing what happened
Browser and desktop agents, independent oracles, fault injection, and evidence you can sign off.
Compute in reality
Open-weight deployment, neocloud fabrics, queue policy, topology, and completed-run economics.
People & decisions
Engineering hiring, SDLC design, industrial AI, and what stays with humans as execution accelerates.
03 / From the bench
Short notes, full arguments.
The video catches the point. The written note carries the context, examples, evidence, and boundary.
Do not re-teach stock safety per agent.
Watch & readWho writes the agent's exam?
Watch & readMake retry safety survive every agent run.
Watch & readFast agents still need fixed contracts.
Watch & readThe agent cannot grade its own click path.
Watch & readComputer use needs a second witness.
Watch & read04 / A little context
I’m interested in what
survives contact with reality.
I have spent more than two decades in technology, from founding and exiting a software development and marketing agency to engineering leadership roles and co-founding FrameBright. This journal is where I work through what that experience is teaching me now.
More about the road here