Subject: Give Claude a backlog that refills
BRAINFILE #003 — Tue, Jul 28, 2026
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Preheader: Work CLASSES with refill rules, not task lists that run dry.
THE NEVER-EMPTY BACKLOG: YOUR AGENT SHOULD NEVER ASK 'WHAT NEXT?'
Give an agent a task list and it stops when the list ends — usually 20 minutes into the two hours you gave it. The fix isn't a longer list. It's a backlog of work CLASSES, each with a rule for generating its next increment, so the well never runs dry.
THE PATTERN
1. List classes, not tasks
"Improve test coverage" is a class; "write a test for parseDate" is one increment of it. A class survives being worked on — it just yields the next increment.
2. Every class gets a refill rule
Write HOW to find the next increment: "coverage: run the coverage report, pick the least-covered file". The agent executes the rule instead of asking you.
3. Pick by leverage x staleness
When choosing what's next: what matters most x what's been ignored longest. Both factors are one line to compute. This stops agents from polishing the same favorite corner forever.
COPY-PASTE THIS
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BACKLOG.md — never-empty work classes
When idle: pick the class with highest (leverage x days-since-touched).
tests (leverage: high)
refill: run coverage, pick the least-covered file, add 2 tests.
docs (leverage: med)
refill: find the newest feature with no README section. Write it.
cleanup (leverage: low)
refill: grep TODO/FIXME, fix the oldest one.
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WHY THIS WORKS
Refill rules turn "idle" into a computable state instead of a conversation. In our own runs, this is the difference between an agent that works 20 minutes and one that works the full window you paid for.
(Same structure as the evergreen backlog our own system uses to never close a work window early.)
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