Working Notes on Agent Systems/Brad Zhang

@teach_fireworks / X longform

At the convenience store at seven o'clock in the morning, plastic shopping baskets were piled up into a mountain half as high as a person.

At the convenience store at seven o'clock in the morning, plastic shopping baskets were piled up into a mountain half as high as a person. Store clerks and unloading drivers are...

November 29, 2025 · 3 min read

At the convenience store at seven o'clock in the morning, plastic shopping baskets were piled up into a mountain half as high as a person.
Figure 1 / source image

At the convenience store at seven o'clock in the morning, plastic shopping baskets were piled up into a mountain half as high as a person.

Store clerks and unloading drivers are loading goods into the store.

Every morning when I pass by, I grab a cup of coffee and a sandwich and leave.

The adult world is so hurried and real, without too much communication and pleasantries.

The temperature here in Shanghai has been cooling down very quickly recently, and it’s getting cold very quickly.

I clutched the warm coffee cup, and through the small hole in the plastic cover I could see the white breath I was exhaling.

I glanced at the messages on my phone, including the colleague group, email, WeChat group, and x messages that had become active recently.

I've been asking myself lately, why do I have to go through so much trouble?

After thinking about it, I have the following points: 1 I often say I want to go back to the past and do whatever I want.

Since I have this intention, I should do more at an age when my energy, body and stress are still acceptable.

2 The workplace is a cage, which not only gives a sense of security, but also restricts many things.

So try more of the few places where you can show your talents, such as community building, writing articles, and writing recommendations.

3 I watched two pieces of content yesterday, one is the latest video of Hurricane Film and Television.

Tim also thinks about people and AI.

relationship, the photos are touching, no matter what Sometimes, people always want to do something to impress themselves.

There is also a picture in Figure 2, which is from Somalia, Africa (it seems to be called this).

These are the murals left by their ancestors.

Archaeologists discovered this place many years ago and even taught the locals a guideline, waiting for tourists to come and bring income to our lives.

However, they waited for 20 years, and the murals gradually began to be damaged because of the war in that place.

These two seemingly unrelated pieces of content made me have to think about how the situation of everyone in the world will really be so different when one is using AI while still running for a living.

Because we often come into contact with the same group of people in the same environment, we will slowly forget this difference.

AI seems to be exacerbating this trend, which makes me a little worried.

I used to complain that coffee was too bitter, but only middle-aged people understand that bitter things make people feel at ease and awake.

Figure 2 / source image

Visual summary

Article argument map

Generated from the post's content graph

FORMATTOPICCAPABILITYMARKETcoversFORMATlongform noteTOPICagentic devtools
Mermaid outline
flowchart LR
  format-long_post["longform note"]
  topic-agentic-devtools["agentic devtools"]
  format-long_post -->|covers| topic-agentic-devtools

Visual structure

Essay structure map

Built from summary and key paragraph positions

At the convenience store at seven o'clock in the morning, plastic shopping baskets we...THESISAt the conveniencestore at seven o'clockin the morning,plastic shoppingSIGNALAt the conveniencestore at seven o'clockin the morning,plastic shoppingOPERATORSo try more of the fewplaces where you canshow your talents,such as communityIMPLICATIONI used to complainthat coffee was toobitter, but onlymiddle-aged people
Mermaid outline
flowchart LR
  thesis["At the convenience store at seven o'clock in the morning, plastic shopping baskets were piled up into a mou..."]
  signal["At the convenience store at seven o'clock in the morning, plastic shopping baskets were piled up into a mou..."]
  operator["So try more of the few places where you can show your talents, such as community building, writing articles..."]
  implication["I used to complain that coffee was too bitter, but only middle-aged people understand that bitter things ma..."]
  thesis -->|frames| signal
  signal -->|develops| operator
  operator -->|lands in| implication

Source: View the original post