Hale

Issue 14 · August 2026

Field notes on agents and honest software.

Julian Hale writes from Portland about autonomous loops, the tools they touch, and the quieter craft of building systems that hold together on a Tuesday.

This month on agents

Featured series

More on agents

Hand tools and a brass caliper arranged on a worn oak workbench.
AgentsAug 11, 2026

Tool Use Is the Real Intelligence

The model is not the product. The tools are. Most “agent intelligence” is a well-named function with a strict schema and a boring implementation.

12 min read

Olive and rust embroidery threads tangled in a ceramic bowl.
AgentsAug 4, 2026

Why Multi-Agent Systems Collapse

Add a second agent and you have not added a colleague. You have added a coordination problem, a shared lie about memory, and twice the ways to stop too late.

13 min read

A brass ruler, glass thermometer, and stone on a small scale.
AgentsJul 21, 2026

Evaluation Is the Product

If you cannot say what better looks like on Tuesday morning, you do not have an agent product. You have a demo with a marketing site.

12 min read

An empty wooden chair by a window with a folded blanket on the seat.
AgentsJul 14, 2026

When Not to Use an Agent

Some work wants a button, a form, or a person. Agents are expensive loops. Use them when the path is unknown and the checks are strong.

10 min read

Also in the archive

All essays
Handwritten notes and a fountain pen beside the edge of a closed laptop.
CraftJun 30, 20268 min read

Notes on Reading Code Aloud

A cheap review trick: read the change out loud as if you were explaining it to a skeptical friend who cannot see the screen.

A row of brass and porcelain door handles on a pale plaster wall.
ToolsMay 5, 20268 min read

Interfaces That Teach

A good interface does not only accept input. It teaches the shape of the system while your hand is still on it.

A torn paper calendar on an oak table in late afternoon light.
WritingApr 21, 20267 min read

The Calendar Is a Lie

A week of meetings can look like a week of work. It is often a week of avoiding the one page that would have moved the project.

An open notebook, fountain pen, and coffee cup on a sunlit wooden desk.
WritingApr 7, 20268 min read

Writing as a Debugging Tool

When a system will not yield, I stop typing code and start typing sentences. The bug is often a story we have not finished.

Empty wooden chairs around a low table stacked with books and a teapot.
WritingMar 24, 20269 min read

The Thursday Reading Group

For two years we read one paper or essay a week, out loud, with a hard stop. It changed how the team argued more than any offsite.

Julian Hale sitting by a window

The author

Julian Hale

Julian Hale writes about autonomous agents and the quieter work of making software. He spent a decade on developer tools, then three years on agent systems at a lab that no longer uses that name. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

More about Julian

The letter

Occasional notes

New essays, a reading or two, and no weekly guilt. This form is fake, like the rest of the machinery here.