2026-05-12 - Human Talks - Resources

agentic-tooling.md

name	install-fast-deterministic-tools
description	Install fast deterministic TypeScript/JS tooling (tsgo, bun, knip, oxc, fallow, agent-ci) and wire them into a pre-commit hook so agents get fast feedback and quality code lands in PRs. Use when user wants to set up an agentic validation loop, add deterministic guardrails, speed up CI/local checks, or replace slow tsc/eslint/prettier with native-speed equivalents.
author	François Best <github@francoisbest.com>

Fast deterministic tools for agentic loops

Goal: give agents (and humans) instant feedback via deterministic, native-speed tools. Wire them into pre-commit so the agent self-corrects before a commit lands, and into CI as a safety net.

Why

• LLMs: malleable, slow, non-reproducible. Good for judgment.
• Deterministic tools: fast, reproducible, dumb about intent. Good for enforcement.
• Speed matters: faster loop = better prompt cache hits = cheaper + greener + flow-preserving.

The toolset

Tool	Lang	Replaces	Job
tsgo	Go	tsc	Typecheck. TS v7 native preview, package @typescript/native-preview.
bun	Zig	node + npm/pnpm + jest/vitest	Runtime, package manager, test runner, script runner. No transpile.
knip	TS	—	Find dead code: unused exports, files, deps. Agents leave junk; knip deletes it.
oxlint	Rust	eslint	Lint (ESLint-compatible rules).
oxfmt	Rust	prettier	Format + import sort + package.json field sort.
fallow	Rust	partial knip + lint	Duplication detection, complexity. Verbose — watch token cost in agent loops.
agent-ci	TS	act	Run GitHub Actions locally so agents validate before pushing (avoids ping-pong CI commits).

Modern Node.js is a viable, less-VC-funded alternative to bun for runtime + test runner.

Install (bun-based project)

bun add -d @typescript/native-preview knip oxlint oxfmt fallow
# agent-ci: follow upstream install instructions (early-stage, check repo)

package.json scripts:

{
  "scripts": {
    "typecheck": "tsgo --noEmit",
    "lint": "oxlint",
    "format": "oxfmt",
    "format:check": "oxfmt --check",
    "deadcode": "knip",
    "test": "bun test",
    "validate": "bun run typecheck && bun run lint && bun run format:check && bun run deadcode && bun run test"
  }
}

Pre-commit hook

Prefer Git 2.54+ config-based hooks. Native, declarative, no dependency, multiple hooks per event, listable via git hook list pre-commit, disable-able via enabled = false. Lives in .git/config (repo), ~/.gitconfig (user), or /etc/gitconfig (system).

# .git/config (or commit a snippet to be sourced via git config --local include.path)
[hook "format"]
	event = pre-commit
	command = bunx oxfmt

[hook "lint"]
	event = pre-commit
	command = bunx oxlint

[hook "typecheck"]
	event = pre-commit
	command = bunx tsgo --noEmit

[hook "deadcode"]
	event = pre-commit
	command = bunx knip

Inspect: git hook list pre-commit. Disable one ad hoc: git config hook.lint.enabled false.

Fallback for Git < 2.54 — pick one:

• lefthook — fast (Go), parallel, supports {staged_files} and stage_fixed. Recommended.
• husky — most ubiquitous, JS-based, simpler config but slower bootstrap.
• Plain .git/hooks/pre-commit script — zero deps, but not shareable across the team.

# lefthook.yml (fallback)
pre-commit:
  parallel: true
  commands:
    format:
      run: bunx oxfmt {staged_files}
      stage_fixed: true
    lint:
      run: bunx oxlint {staged_files}
    typecheck:
      run: bunx tsgo --noEmit
    deadcode:
      run: bunx knip

# husky equivalent: .husky/pre-commit
bunx oxfmt && bunx oxlint && bunx tsgo --noEmit && bunx knip

Loop intent: agent attempts a commit → hook runs → auto-fixes applied → checker failures surface as actionable diffs → agent reads, fixes, retries. Only clean code reaches the PR.

CI

Mirror the same bun run validate in CI as a safety net. If the pre-commit hook ran, CI is a no-op; if someone bypassed it, CI catches it.

Order of operations when agents misbehave

1. Deterministic first. Can a tool catch this? Add/configure rule.
2. Malleable second. Only if no tool fits, write guidance in AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md.

Tools enforce; prose guides. Don't write a paragraph when a lint rule will do.

Gotchas

• tsgo is beta — pin the version, expect rough edges, keep tsc as fallback in CI for now if shipping prod.
• oxlint doesn't yet cover every ESLint rule — audit your existing config before swapping.
• fallow is verbose; for agent loops, pipe through --quiet or filter to keep token usage sane.
• agent-ci is early; act is the legacy fallback if it doesn't work for your workflow.
• knip needs configuration tuning per project to avoid false positives on entrypoints.

Author

François Best