Engineers Advised to Define 'Blast-Radius' Files Before Using AI to Patch Code
A software engineering guide recommends that developers new to a codebase create a structured 'blast-radius' file before allowing any AI assistant to write or modify code. The file explicitly defines the target files, forbidden paths, revert strategy, and feature flag behavior, acting as a hard contract that limits the scope of any AI-generated change. A companion script is meant to verify the revert path automatically, serving as the only gate before a pull request goes to review. The approach emphasizes fail-closed design, meaning a missing feature flag must never enable new behavior by default. The workflow is intended to make architectural unknowns explicit early and keep AI-assisted changes small, reversible, and auditable.
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