Tips & tricks

Spot-check every background number

Any aggregate an agent reports is a lead, not a fact, until a fast foreground check reproduces it. Pick one number and re-derive it.

The move

Any aggregate an agent reports from a background process is a lead, not a fact, until a fast foreground check reproduces it.

When to use it

For every summary, census, and digest the agent hands you. Pick one number, ask how it was produced, and have it re-derived in front of you. The habit is cheap, and it catches what confident formatting hides.

Steps

1. Pick the load-bearing number in the report.
2. Ask for its source and method.
3. Re-derive it once, in the foreground, from the source.
4. Only then let the rest of the report stand on it.

The gotcha

Long outputs get truncated and misread, and a fluent report formats a guess exactly like a measurement. The formatting carries no signal about which one you are holding.

Deep dive: Practices and tips →