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Calls with Kent C. Dodds.

You call, I'll answer.

Record your call
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What's this all about?

The goal of the Call Kent Podcast is to get my answers to your questions. You record your brief question (120 seconds or less) right from your browser. Then I listen to it later and give my response, and through the magic of technology (ffmpeg), our question and answer are stitched together and published to the podcast feed.

If recording isn't an option, you can also type your question and we'll generate the audio for you.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Record your call

Calls with Kent C. Dodds Season 1 — 69 episodes

50.How to decide among advanced react patterns?
07:12
49.Handling difficult co-workers and/or leadership
05:24
48.Use React frameworks (Remix) for SPAs
05:29
47.Isolating tests
04:39
46.Versioning and dependency management for libraries
05:07
45.Full stack framework vs front-end with saas
06:34
44.Learning Gaps & Cluelessness as a Developer
07:46
43.Alfred and/or ScriptKit?
07:41
42.Why React JS?
23:22
41.Bailing out of re-rendering in useState
04:28
40.Remix Styling w/CSS in JS
08:29
39.Learning web development the right way
07:07
38.Testing a Drag and Drop Experience
03:59
37.Protected route and redirect after payment
06:17
36.Making changes on a new team
13:27
35.Building an Open Source Website
08:56
34.Question about testing alongside RTL
07:21
33.Create web components in React
07:29
32.Magic links require timely email delivery
06:48
31.Some advice for developers about the design
02:43
30.Pricing low-demand workshops
05:08
29.Why XState?
06:27
28.Forms in React
04:48
27.How small should components be
03:58
26.Using Fly.io Replays
12:46
25.Why is forwardRef required to limit re-renders?
07:24
24.Traditional logins vs. passwordless magic links
14:08
23.How to plan curriculum
04:48
22.Why Remix over other React frameworks?
35:44
21.What did paypal-scripts do?
06:15
20.What are your thoughts on Svelte?
11:21
19.Where did those diagrams come from?
02:39
18.Filling CS concept holes as a non-CS major?
05:48
17.How to buy for EpicReact in "installments"
06:16
16.Best approach for building headless components
09:05
15.The technical person in the room - product engineering with Sean Roberts
44:15
15.Cypress Component Testing Library vs Jest
04:44
14.Software architecture, human judgment, and AI's limits with Grady Booch
47:00
14.How does Remix manage many CSS files in a page?
04:16
13.User outcomes, workflow design, and biotech software - product engineering with Swizec Teller
40:14
13.Mirage JS over MSW?
06:04
12.User empathy, feedback loops, and what not to build - product engineering with Jack Ryan
53:23
12.Work Life Balance
10:02
11.Primitives, agent UX, and Executor - product engineering with Rhys Sullivan
41:24
11.How much of seniority is about code skills?
07:59
10.Firm skills
05:21
09.Customer research, desire, and Sales Safari - product engineering with Alex Hillman
71:47
09.How to style?
09:06
08.Speed, prioritization, and maintainability — product engineering with Julius Marminge
42:09
08.SSG Hype
13:55
07.Stakeholder empathy, UX, and durable product skills — product engineering with Jamon Holmgren
56:25
07.Managing Burnout
03:28
06.Watch users, fix systems, and design for humanity — product engineering with Don Norman
76:29
06.Human factors, product debt, and industrial design — product engineering with Will King
61:56
06.Make It Stick: Interleave Curves
05:11
05.Pragmatic Loop Engineering for AI Coding Agents
14:00
Keywords

Better, with, Kent

StarPost this
Description
Kent shows how he closes agentic loops in real Cursor workflows: manual testing, PR review loops, Cursor Automations, and the stop conditions that keep humans in the right place.

{{chapters}}

Better with Kent — durable skills for people who ship software.

Loop engineering sounds new, but Kent has been building toward it through a series of practical workflow improvements: automated test loops, Cursor browser mode, Cursor Cloud Agent manual testing, pull request feedback loops, and finally Cursor Automations.

This episode walks through what a useful agentic loop actually needs: a trigger, an act/observe cycle, a stop condition, and a human boundary. Kent shows how he uses agents to mark PRs ready for review, respond to AI reviewer feedback and CI failures, and ping him when the loop has reached its stop condition.

The key idea is not removing the human. It is widening the loop so more verification happens before your attention is required.

Links

05.Vertical slices, Solo, and empathy — product engineering with Aaron D. Francis
45:40
05.What is the best way to go through EpicReact?
09:23
04.Stop Taking Tickets, Start Applying Jobs Theory
21:02
04.Foundations, feedback, and agents — Dillon Mulroy on product at Cloudflare
49:03
04.How do you find new technology
02:45
03.How an AI Agent Deleted PocketOS Production in 9 Seconds
16:18
03.The right thing before the thing right — product engineering with Wayne Allan
50:32
03.Difference in methods emanating from screen and render
04:38
02.How to Prioritize Software Tasks
16:11
02.Dealing with "act" warning on react testing
06:20
01.What Software Engineers Need in 2026
29:32
01.Product sense, restraint, and OpenCode with Dax Raad
54:00
01.Reusing components between different projects
06:05
50.How to decide among advanced react patterns?
07:12
49.Handling difficult co-workers and/or leadership
05:24
48.Use React frameworks (Remix) for SPAs
05:29
47.Isolating tests
04:39
46.Versioning and dependency management for libraries
05:07
45.Full stack framework vs front-end with saas
06:34
44.Learning Gaps & Cluelessness as a Developer
07:46
43.Alfred and/or ScriptKit?
07:41
42.Why React JS?
23:22
41.Bailing out of re-rendering in useState
04:28
40.Remix Styling w/CSS in JS
08:29
39.Learning web development the right way
07:07
38.Testing a Drag and Drop Experience
03:59
37.Protected route and redirect after payment
06:17
36.Making changes on a new team
13:27
35.Building an Open Source Website
08:56
34.Question about testing alongside RTL
07:21
33.Create web components in React
07:29
32.Magic links require timely email delivery
06:48
31.Some advice for developers about the design
02:43
30.Pricing low-demand workshops
05:08
29.Why XState?
06:27
28.Forms in React
04:48
27.How small should components be
03:58
26.Using Fly.io Replays
12:46
25.Why is forwardRef required to limit re-renders?
07:24
24.Traditional logins vs. passwordless magic links
14:08
23.How to plan curriculum
04:48
22.Why Remix over other React frameworks?
35:44
21.What did paypal-scripts do?
06:15
20.What are your thoughts on Svelte?
11:21
19.Where did those diagrams come from?
02:39
18.Filling CS concept holes as a non-CS major?
05:48
17.How to buy for EpicReact in "installments"
06:16
16.Best approach for building headless components
09:05
15.The technical person in the room - product engineering with Sean Roberts
44:15
15.Cypress Component Testing Library vs Jest
04:44
14.Software architecture, human judgment, and AI's limits with Grady Booch
47:00
14.How does Remix manage many CSS files in a page?
04:16
13.User outcomes, workflow design, and biotech software - product engineering with Swizec Teller
40:14
13.Mirage JS over MSW?
06:04
12.User empathy, feedback loops, and what not to build - product engineering with Jack Ryan
53:23
12.Work Life Balance
10:02
11.Primitives, agent UX, and Executor - product engineering with Rhys Sullivan
41:24
11.How much of seniority is about code skills?
07:59
10.Firm skills
05:21
09.Customer research, desire, and Sales Safari - product engineering with Alex Hillman
71:47
09.How to style?
09:06
08.Speed, prioritization, and maintainability — product engineering with Julius Marminge
42:09
08.SSG Hype
13:55
07.Stakeholder empathy, UX, and durable product skills — product engineering with Jamon Holmgren
56:25
07.Managing Burnout
03:28
06.Watch users, fix systems, and design for humanity — product engineering with Don Norman
76:29
06.Human factors, product debt, and industrial design — product engineering with Will King
61:56
06.Make It Stick: Interleave Curves
05:11
05.Pragmatic Loop Engineering for AI Coding Agents
14:00
Keywords

Better, with, Kent

StarPost this
Description
Kent shows how he closes agentic loops in real Cursor workflows: manual testing, PR review loops, Cursor Automations, and the stop conditions that keep humans in the right place.

{{chapters}}

Better with Kent — durable skills for people who ship software.

Loop engineering sounds new, but Kent has been building toward it through a series of practical workflow improvements: automated test loops, Cursor browser mode, Cursor Cloud Agent manual testing, pull request feedback loops, and finally Cursor Automations.

This episode walks through what a useful agentic loop actually needs: a trigger, an act/observe cycle, a stop condition, and a human boundary. Kent shows how he uses agents to mark PRs ready for review, respond to AI reviewer feedback and CI failures, and ping him when the loop has reached its stop condition.

The key idea is not removing the human. It is widening the loop so more verification happens before your attention is required.

Links

05.Vertical slices, Solo, and empathy — product engineering with Aaron D. Francis
45:40
05.What is the best way to go through EpicReact?
09:23
04.Stop Taking Tickets, Start Applying Jobs Theory
21:02
04.Foundations, feedback, and agents — Dillon Mulroy on product at Cloudflare
49:03
04.How do you find new technology
02:45
03.How an AI Agent Deleted PocketOS Production in 9 Seconds
16:18
03.The right thing before the thing right — product engineering with Wayne Allan
50:32
03.Difference in methods emanating from screen and render
04:38
02.How to Prioritize Software Tasks
16:11
02.Dealing with "act" warning on react testing
06:20
01.What Software Engineers Need in 2026
29:32
01.Product sense, restraint, and OpenCode with Dax Raad
54:00
01.Reusing components between different projects
06:05
50.How to decide among advanced react patterns?
07:12
49.Handling difficult co-workers and/or leadership
05:24
48.Use React frameworks (Remix) for SPAs
05:29
47.Isolating tests
04:39
46.Versioning and dependency management for libraries
05:07
45.Full stack framework vs front-end with saas
06:34
44.Learning Gaps & Cluelessness as a Developer
07:46
43.Alfred and/or ScriptKit?
07:41
42.Why React JS?
23:22
41.Bailing out of re-rendering in useState
04:28
40.Remix Styling w/CSS in JS
08:29
39.Learning web development the right way
07:07
38.Testing a Drag and Drop Experience
03:59
37.Protected route and redirect after payment
06:17
36.Making changes on a new team
13:27
35.Building an Open Source Website
08:56
34.Question about testing alongside RTL
07:21
33.Create web components in React
07:29
32.Magic links require timely email delivery
06:48
31.Some advice for developers about the design
02:43
30.Pricing low-demand workshops
05:08
29.Why XState?
06:27
28.Forms in React
04:48
27.How small should components be
03:58
26.Using Fly.io Replays
12:46
25.Why is forwardRef required to limit re-renders?
07:24
24.Traditional logins vs. passwordless magic links
14:08
23.How to plan curriculum
04:48
22.Why Remix over other React frameworks?
35:44
21.What did paypal-scripts do?
06:15
20.What are your thoughts on Svelte?
11:21
19.Where did those diagrams come from?
02:39
18.Filling CS concept holes as a non-CS major?
05:48
17.How to buy for EpicReact in "installments"
06:16
16.Best approach for building headless components
09:05
15.The technical person in the room - product engineering with Sean Roberts
44:15
15.Cypress Component Testing Library vs Jest
04:44
14.Software architecture, human judgment, and AI's limits with Grady Booch
47:00
14.How does Remix manage many CSS files in a page?
04:16
13.User outcomes, workflow design, and biotech software - product engineering with Swizec Teller
40:14
13.Mirage JS over MSW?
06:04
12.User empathy, feedback loops, and what not to build - product engineering with Jack Ryan
53:23
12.Work Life Balance
10:02
11.Primitives, agent UX, and Executor - product engineering with Rhys Sullivan
41:24
11.How much of seniority is about code skills?
07:59
10.Firm skills
05:21
09.Customer research, desire, and Sales Safari - product engineering with Alex Hillman
71:47
09.How to style?
09:06
08.Speed, prioritization, and maintainability — product engineering with Julius Marminge
42:09
08.SSG Hype
13:55
07.Stakeholder empathy, UX, and durable product skills — product engineering with Jamon Holmgren
56:25
07.Managing Burnout
03:28
06.Watch users, fix systems, and design for humanity — product engineering with Don Norman
76:29
06.Human factors, product debt, and industrial design — product engineering with Will King
61:56
06.Make It Stick: Interleave Curves
05:11
05.Pragmatic Loop Engineering for AI Coding Agents
14:00
Keywords

Better, with, Kent

StarPost this
Description
Kent shows how he closes agentic loops in real Cursor workflows: manual testing, PR review loops, Cursor Automations, and the stop conditions that keep humans in the right place.

{{chapters}}

Better with Kent — durable skills for people who ship software.

Loop engineering sounds new, but Kent has been building toward it through a series of practical workflow improvements: automated test loops, Cursor browser mode, Cursor Cloud Agent manual testing, pull request feedback loops, and finally Cursor Automations.

This episode walks through what a useful agentic loop actually needs: a trigger, an act/observe cycle, a stop condition, and a human boundary. Kent shows how he uses agents to mark PRs ready for review, respond to AI reviewer feedback and CI failures, and ping him when the loop has reached its stop condition.

The key idea is not removing the human. It is widening the loop so more verification happens before your attention is required.

Links

05.Vertical slices, Solo, and empathy — product engineering with Aaron D. Francis
45:40
05.What is the best way to go through EpicReact?
09:23
04.Stop Taking Tickets, Start Applying Jobs Theory
21:02
04.Foundations, feedback, and agents — Dillon Mulroy on product at Cloudflare
49:03
04.How do you find new technology
02:45
03.How an AI Agent Deleted PocketOS Production in 9 Seconds
16:18
03.The right thing before the thing right — product engineering with Wayne Allan
50:32
03.Difference in methods emanating from screen and render
04:38
02.How to Prioritize Software Tasks
16:11
02.Dealing with "act" warning on react testing
06:20
01.What Software Engineers Need in 2026
29:32
01.Product sense, restraint, and OpenCode with Dax Raad
54:00
01.Reusing components between different projects
06:05
50.How to decide among advanced react patterns?
07:12
49.Handling difficult co-workers and/or leadership
05:24
48.Use React frameworks (Remix) for SPAs
05:29
47.Isolating tests
04:39
46.Versioning and dependency management for libraries
05:07
45.Full stack framework vs front-end with saas
06:34
44.Learning Gaps & Cluelessness as a Developer
07:46
43.Alfred and/or ScriptKit?
07:41
42.Why React JS?
23:22
41.Bailing out of re-rendering in useState
04:28
40.Remix Styling w/CSS in JS
08:29
39.Learning web development the right way
07:07
38.Testing a Drag and Drop Experience
03:59
37.Protected route and redirect after payment
06:17
36.Making changes on a new team
13:27
35.Building an Open Source Website
08:56
34.Question about testing alongside RTL
07:21
33.Create web components in React
07:29
32.Magic links require timely email delivery
06:48
31.Some advice for developers about the design
02:43
30.Pricing low-demand workshops
05:08
29.Why XState?
06:27
28.Forms in React
04:48
27.How small should components be
03:58
26.Using Fly.io Replays
12:46
25.Why is forwardRef required to limit re-renders?
07:24
24.Traditional logins vs. passwordless magic links
14:08
23.How to plan curriculum
04:48
22.Why Remix over other React frameworks?
35:44
21.What did paypal-scripts do?
06:15
20.What are your thoughts on Svelte?
11:21
19.Where did those diagrams come from?
02:39
18.Filling CS concept holes as a non-CS major?
05:48
17.How to buy for EpicReact in "installments"
06:16
16.Best approach for building headless components
09:05
15.The technical person in the room - product engineering with Sean Roberts
44:15
15.Cypress Component Testing Library vs Jest
04:44
14.Software architecture, human judgment, and AI's limits with Grady Booch
47:00
14.How does Remix manage many CSS files in a page?
04:16
13.User outcomes, workflow design, and biotech software - product engineering with Swizec Teller
40:14
13.Mirage JS over MSW?
06:04
12.User empathy, feedback loops, and what not to build - product engineering with Jack Ryan
53:23
12.Work Life Balance
10:02
11.Primitives, agent UX, and Executor - product engineering with Rhys Sullivan
41:24
11.How much of seniority is about code skills?
07:59
10.Firm skills
05:21
09.Customer research, desire, and Sales Safari - product engineering with Alex Hillman
71:47
09.How to style?
09:06
08.Speed, prioritization, and maintainability — product engineering with Julius Marminge
42:09
08.SSG Hype
13:55
07.Stakeholder empathy, UX, and durable product skills — product engineering with Jamon Holmgren
56:25
07.Managing Burnout
03:28
06.Watch users, fix systems, and design for humanity — product engineering with Don Norman
76:29
06.Human factors, product debt, and industrial design — product engineering with Will King
61:56
06.Make It Stick: Interleave Curves
05:11
05.Pragmatic Loop Engineering for AI Coding Agents
14:00
Keywords

Better, with, Kent

StarPost this
Description
Kent shows how he closes agentic loops in real Cursor workflows: manual testing, PR review loops, Cursor Automations, and the stop conditions that keep humans in the right place.

{{chapters}}

Better with Kent — durable skills for people who ship software.

Loop engineering sounds new, but Kent has been building toward it through a series of practical workflow improvements: automated test loops, Cursor browser mode, Cursor Cloud Agent manual testing, pull request feedback loops, and finally Cursor Automations.

This episode walks through what a useful agentic loop actually needs: a trigger, an act/observe cycle, a stop condition, and a human boundary. Kent shows how he uses agents to mark PRs ready for review, respond to AI reviewer feedback and CI failures, and ping him when the loop has reached its stop condition.

The key idea is not removing the human. It is widening the loop so more verification happens before your attention is required.

Links

05.Vertical slices, Solo, and empathy — product engineering with Aaron D. Francis
45:40
05.What is the best way to go through EpicReact?
09:23
04.Stop Taking Tickets, Start Applying Jobs Theory
21:02
04.Foundations, feedback, and agents — Dillon Mulroy on product at Cloudflare
49:03
04.How do you find new technology
02:45
03.How an AI Agent Deleted PocketOS Production in 9 Seconds
16:18
03.The right thing before the thing right — product engineering with Wayne Allan
50:32
03.Difference in methods emanating from screen and render
04:38
02.How to Prioritize Software Tasks
16:11
02.Dealing with "act" warning on react testing
06:20
01.What Software Engineers Need in 2026
29:32
01.Product sense, restraint, and OpenCode with Dax Raad
54:00
01.Reusing components between different projects
06:05
50.How to decide among advanced react patterns?
07:12
49.Handling difficult co-workers and/or leadership
05:24
48.Use React frameworks (Remix) for SPAs
05:29
47.Isolating tests
04:39
46.Versioning and dependency management for libraries
05:07
45.Full stack framework vs front-end with saas
06:34
44.Learning Gaps & Cluelessness as a Developer
07:46
43.Alfred and/or ScriptKit?
07:41
42.Why React JS?
23:22
41.Bailing out of re-rendering in useState
04:28
40.Remix Styling w/CSS in JS
08:29
39.Learning web development the right way
07:07
38.Testing a Drag and Drop Experience
03:59
37.Protected route and redirect after payment
06:17
36.Making changes on a new team
13:27
35.Building an Open Source Website
08:56
34.Question about testing alongside RTL
07:21
33.Create web components in React
07:29
32.Magic links require timely email delivery
06:48
31.Some advice for developers about the design
02:43
30.Pricing low-demand workshops
05:08
29.Why XState?
06:27
28.Forms in React
04:48
27.How small should components be
03:58
26.Using Fly.io Replays
12:46
25.Why is forwardRef required to limit re-renders?
07:24
24.Traditional logins vs. passwordless magic links
14:08
23.How to plan curriculum
04:48
22.Why Remix over other React frameworks?
35:44
21.What did paypal-scripts do?
06:15
20.What are your thoughts on Svelte?
11:21
19.Where did those diagrams come from?
02:39
18.Filling CS concept holes as a non-CS major?
05:48
17.How to buy for EpicReact in "installments"
06:16
16.Best approach for building headless components
09:05
15.The technical person in the room - product engineering with Sean Roberts
44:15
15.Cypress Component Testing Library vs Jest
04:44
14.Software architecture, human judgment, and AI's limits with Grady Booch
47:00
14.How does Remix manage many CSS files in a page?
04:16
13.User outcomes, workflow design, and biotech software - product engineering with Swizec Teller
40:14
13.Mirage JS over MSW?
06:04
12.User empathy, feedback loops, and what not to build - product engineering with Jack Ryan
53:23
12.Work Life Balance
10:02
11.Primitives, agent UX, and Executor - product engineering with Rhys Sullivan
41:24
11.How much of seniority is about code skills?
07:59
10.Firm skills
05:21
09.Customer research, desire, and Sales Safari - product engineering with Alex Hillman
71:47
09.How to style?
09:06
08.Speed, prioritization, and maintainability — product engineering with Julius Marminge
42:09
08.SSG Hype
13:55
07.Stakeholder empathy, UX, and durable product skills — product engineering with Jamon Holmgren
56:25
07.Managing Burnout
03:28
06.Watch users, fix systems, and design for humanity — product engineering with Don Norman
76:29
06.Human factors, product debt, and industrial design — product engineering with Will King
61:56
06.Make It Stick: Interleave Curves
05:11
05.Pragmatic Loop Engineering for AI Coding Agents
14:00
Keywords

Better, with, Kent

StarPost this
Description
Kent shows how he closes agentic loops in real Cursor workflows: manual testing, PR review loops, Cursor Automations, and the stop conditions that keep humans in the right place.

{{chapters}}

Better with Kent — durable skills for people who ship software.

Loop engineering sounds new, but Kent has been building toward it through a series of practical workflow improvements: automated test loops, Cursor browser mode, Cursor Cloud Agent manual testing, pull request feedback loops, and finally Cursor Automations.

This episode walks through what a useful agentic loop actually needs: a trigger, an act/observe cycle, a stop condition, and a human boundary. Kent shows how he uses agents to mark PRs ready for review, respond to AI reviewer feedback and CI failures, and ping him when the loop has reached its stop condition.

The key idea is not removing the human. It is widening the loop so more verification happens before your attention is required.

Links

05.Vertical slices, Solo, and empathy — product engineering with Aaron D. Francis
45:40
05.What is the best way to go through EpicReact?
09:23
04.Stop Taking Tickets, Start Applying Jobs Theory
21:02
04.Foundations, feedback, and agents — Dillon Mulroy on product at Cloudflare
49:03
04.How do you find new technology
02:45
03.How an AI Agent Deleted PocketOS Production in 9 Seconds
16:18
03.The right thing before the thing right — product engineering with Wayne Allan
50:32
03.Difference in methods emanating from screen and render
04:38
02.How to Prioritize Software Tasks
16:11
02.Dealing with "act" warning on react testing
06:20
01.What Software Engineers Need in 2026
29:32
01.Product sense, restraint, and OpenCode with Dax Raad
54:00
01.Reusing components between different projects
06:05

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