Ron Minsky: types, expect tests and review matter more with agents

Ron Minsky’s Bug Bash 2026 talk argues Jane Street’s old habits (rich types, expect tests, real code review) matter more with agents: they give the model fast, exact feedback and keep the code readable for the humans who own it. He goes the other way from the Claude Code team on review: its main job is keeping a human able to explain the system, not catching bugs.

The idea I’m taking: expect tests. The test prints output, the expected text lives inline, and a change shows up as a diff of behavior, not just code. Python’s version is inline-snapshot: assert result == snapshot(), filled in by pytest.

• Gotcha with agents: under --inline-snapshot=fix (or create, review) every snapshot comparison returns True and the file is rewritten. An agent chasing green doesn’t need to delete a test; it re-accepts the wrong output. Keep acceptance with a human and never auto-fix in CI.