Bootstrapping Coding Agents: The Specification Is the Program
Fuente:
arXiv
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| Autor principal: | |
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| Formato: | Preprint |
| Publicado: |
2026
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| Acceso en línea: | |
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| _version_ | 1866912972483330048 |
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| author | Monperrus, Martin |
| author_facet | Monperrus, Martin |
| contents | A coding agent can bootstrap itself. Starting from a 926-word specification and a first implementation produced by an existing agent (Claude Code), a newly generated agent re-implements the same specification correctly from scratch. This reproduces, in the domain of AI coding agents, the classical bootstrap sequence known from compiler construction, and instantiates the meta-circular property known from Lisp. The result carries a practical implication: the specification, not the implementation, is the stable artifact of record. Improving an agent means improving its specification; the implementation is, in principle, regenerable at any time. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_17399 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Bootstrapping Coding Agents: The Specification Is the Program Monperrus, Martin Software Engineering Machine Learning A coding agent can bootstrap itself. Starting from a 926-word specification and a first implementation produced by an existing agent (Claude Code), a newly generated agent re-implements the same specification correctly from scratch. This reproduces, in the domain of AI coding agents, the classical bootstrap sequence known from compiler construction, and instantiates the meta-circular property known from Lisp. The result carries a practical implication: the specification, not the implementation, is the stable artifact of record. Improving an agent means improving its specification; the implementation is, in principle, regenerable at any time. |
| title | Bootstrapping Coding Agents: The Specification Is the Program |
| topic | Software Engineering Machine Learning |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.17399 |