BUILD 1

The Ideas Shed

COW RULES

Practical rules for building better software with AI.

The Cow doesn’t write your software. The Cow stops you and your AI from doing stupid shit while you build it.

These rules were discovered while building real Ideas Shed products—Cow Console, Pink Cow Shed, Cowbrain, MSI Portal, Milkmaid and more—rather than invented as abstract theory.

WHY THIS PAGE EXISTS

AI can now build more of the software. That means humans should spend less time learning plumbing and more time deciding what should happen, what matters, whether the AI understood, and whether the solution truly works.

AI shouldn’t just make software easier to build.
It should make the machinery of software less necessary for humans to understand.

THE COW RULES

1

IF I CLICK IT, SOMETHING SHOULD HAPPEN

Meaningful actions need obvious feedback. A tiny click deserves a tiny response. A major action can celebrate with stronger movement, clarity, or reward.

2

DON'T MAKE HUMANS HUNT

Avoid forcing people to remember random folders, threads, or versions. The current destination should be obvious every time.

3

ONE OBVIOUS CURRENT VERSION

Publishing once should mean one clear current live build. If the user refreshes, they should get the latest version without cache games.

4

CHAT THINKS. WORK BUILDS.

Use chat for discovery, strategy and critique. Use WORK for implementation, execution, deployment and delivery.

5

HUMAN NAMES BEAT SYSTEM NAMES

People should read names that describe meaning, not only IDs, slugs, or generated system labels.

6

DON'T ADD ANOTHER BLOODY TOOL UNLESS IT HELPS

Before adding another platform, check: can the existing product do this simply and reliably right now?

7

AI PROPOSES. HUMAN DECIDES.

The machine can lower cognitive load, but humans keep final judgement. Suggest, approve, change and ignore as needed.

8

REWARD COMPLETION

Finishers should feel it. Use concise celebration, progress marks, and clean transitions when work lands.

9

DOGFOOD BEFORE THEORY

Build for the person using it first, then simplify from what that person actually says is annoying.

10

SIMPLE FIRST. CLEVER LATER.

If a simple, reliable version ships, ship it. Skip sophisticated automation until one simple path is already obvious.

11

DON'T TEACH THE HUMAN TO BE THE MACHINE

Ask one question: does this complexity actually help the human understand, or just make the human keep up with tooling?

RULES + TOOLS — COMING NEXT

Cow Rules will eventually contain two parts: RULES (the principles) and TOOLS (ready-to-use prompts/checks). Example tools include:

  • Mark Spark's Homework
  • Build Brief Generator
  • Ship Check
  • Scope Police
  • UX Cow Check
  • Nerd Stuff Check

These will appear as they are tested and used in real builds.

LIVING STANDARD

No seven pillars. No 38-point framework. No Cow Rules Certified Practitioner™ Level 2 Diploma.

Cow Rules should stay small, sharp, and useful. A rule only survives if it repeatedly improves real products.