# The line between agent tasks that work and ones that flop

A year in, the agent tasks that pay off and the ones that flop split on a single question: did I write the context down, or is it still in my head?

Written down → it works:
1. Point it at a folder of call transcripts; it writes the FAQ from the repeats.
2. A research skill that runs before every intro call.
3. Turn a 40-minute session into a one-page brief I can forward.
4. `rg` the workspace for "where did we decide X" instead of me digging for it.
5. Draft the changelog from the week's commits and sessions.

Still in my head → it flops:
- Anything needing taste I never bothered to articulate.
- "Simple" tasks it gets confidently wrong — AI is spiky, it'll nail a brutal synthesis and then misread a calendar screenshot.

The leverage comes from writing the context and the taste down so the agent can actually reach them. Prompt-crafting barely matters next to that.

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