Research Papers
12 papers — theoretical grounding for AI-native development
The Cumulative State Anti-Pattern
When "Current" Masquerades as "Ever"
How ambiguous field semantics in database design create invisible bugs that punish users for legitimate actions. A case study from Webflow template validation.
The Subtractive Studio: Philosophy as Infrastructure
Most Agencies Add. CREATE SOMETHING Removes What Obscures.
A positioning paper establishing CREATE SOMETHING's differentiation: philosophy as infrastructure, not marketing. The Subtractive Triad applied to agency practice.
The Hermeneutic Triad
How Reviewers, Harness, and Agent Collaborate
Case study of parallel peer review identifying DRY violations through the hermeneutic triad of reviewers, harness, and agent.
Harness Agent SDK Migration: Empirical Analysis
Security, Reliability, and Cost Improvements Through Explicit Tool Permissions
Empirical analysis of migrating from --dangerously-skip-permissions to --allowedTools in autonomous Claude Code orchestration.
The Autonomous Harness
Agent Orchestration with Human Agency—how progress reports enable reactive steering without proactive management.
Applying Heidegger's dwelling concept to autonomous agent systems, demonstrating how progress reports preserve human agency through reactive oversight.
From Learning About to Dwelling Within
Agentic Engineering as Methodology Transfer in the Terminal
Examining how Claude Code can transfer CREATE SOMETHING methodology through agentic engineering, transforming passive learning into active ethos adoption.
Subtractive Form Design: When Absence Is Clearer Than Instruction
A Case Study in Hermeneutic Form Architecture
Applying Heidegger's hermeneutic question to form design: when a field doesn't apply, hiding it is clearer than instructing users to leave it blank.
Hermeneutic Debugging
Applying the Hermeneutic Circle to Software Debugging
Applying Heidegger's hermeneutic circle to software debugging, demonstrating that understanding emerges through iterative interpretation.
The Hermeneutic Spiral in UX Design: Returning Users as Evolving Context
Why Systems Should Remember and Ask Only What Has Changed
Applying Heidegger's hermeneutic circle to UX design, demonstrating how returning users should experience evolving context rather than stateless repetition.
Subtractive Triad Audit: Kickstand
A Production Case Study in Systematic Code Reduction
Applied the Subtractive Triad framework (DRY → Rams → Heidegger) to audit a production venue intelligence system, achieving 48% health score improvement.
Understanding Graphs: "Less, But Better" Codebase Navigation
Minimal Dependency Documentation Through Hermeneutic Analysis
Research applying Heidegger's hermeneutic circle to develop minimal dependency documentation that captures only understanding-critical relationships.
Code-Mediated Tool Use: A Hermeneutic Analysis of LLM-Tool Interaction
Why Code Mode Achieves Zuhandenheit Where Tool Calling Forces Vorhandenheit
A phenomenological analysis applying Heidegger to LLM agent architecture, demonstrating why Code Mode achieves tool transparency where traditional approaches fail.