https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/ Field notes on deployment-engineering practice — discovery, scoping, customer judgment calls, and the skill nobody puts in the job posting. en https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/refusal-is-the-gate.html https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/refusal-is-the-gate.html Wed, 07 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 The three diagnostic moments where an FDE's highest-leverage act is saying 'don't build this yet'—before premature engineering locks in failure. https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/title-as-encoding.html https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/title-as-encoding.html Wed, 07 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 When you see 'Forward Deployed Engineer' versus 'Solutions Engineer,' you're not reading a job description. You're reading three encoded decisions: comp bracket, risk allocation, and career structure. https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/context-is-the-integration.html https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/context-is-the-integration.html Tue, 06 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 MCP turned FDE glue code into a durable asset the customer owns. The work that's left — and that now matters most — is curating what each connector puts in front of the model. https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/the-harness-moves-the-number.html https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/the-harness-moves-the-number.html Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Same 4B model, same task, a 60-to-82% accuracy swing from harness design alone. The eval harness is the FDE's real deliverable — and the acceptance contract with the customer. https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/the-handoff-is-the-product.html https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/the-handoff-is-the-product.html Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Air Canada, Klarna and Cursor learned the same lesson in public: the path from the bot to a human isn't the failure mode of an AI deployment. It's the feature that makes it safe to ship. https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/prompt-injection-is-a-permissions-bug.html https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/prompt-injection-is-a-permissions-bug.html Tue, 22 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Assume the model will be tricked. The FDE's job is to decide, during scoping, what a tricked agent can reach — and to make sure it can't reach all three legs of the lethal trifecta at once. https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/dry-run-before-autonomy.html https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/dry-run-before-autonomy.html Tue, 15 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 "Don't touch production" in a prompt is a request. A read-only credential is a control. Agent tool loops need dry runs, idempotency and scoped access before they need autonomy. https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/rollback-is-the-feature.html https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/rollback-is-the-feature.html Tue, 08 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 The most instructive AI incidents of 2025 weren't fixed by better models. They were fixed by how fast someone could get back to the last known good state. https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/title-is-tell.html https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/title-is-tell.html Mon, 10 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Fragmented FDE titles are not confusion — they are price discovery for deployment risk. https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/not-yet-is-the-deliverable.html https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/not-yet-is-the-deliverable.html Tue, 17 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 The best FDEs aren't measured by what they ship — they're measured by what they refuse to build until the data proves it's ready. https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/roadmap-is-not-wish-list.html https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/roadmap-is-not-wish-list.html Wed, 18 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Internal advocacy is not lobbying. It is turning field pain into an eval product wants to ship. https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/code-is-just-a-receipt.html https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/code-is-just-a-receipt.html Sat, 08 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000 In forward-deployed engineering, discovery isn't a prelude to the engagement. It IS the engagement. The code that follows is just the receipt. https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/the-code-you-dont-write.html https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/the-code-you-dont-write.html Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000 The real product an FDE ships is a "don't build" list. Everything else is evidence for why each item belongs on it. https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/lost-before-you-type.html https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/lost-before-you-type.html Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Every failed engagement was lost in the first two weeks. The code just hadn't been written yet. https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/youre-not-deploying-youre-correcting.html https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/youre-not-deploying-youre-correcting.html Tue, 18 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Your highest-output work isn't what you ship to the customer. It's what you ship back to your own product team. https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/your-real-job-is-roadmap.html https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/your-real-job-is-roadmap.html Tue, 18 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000 The FDE's highest-leverage output isn't code deployed — it's field signal that changes the roadmap. https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/what-the-job-selects-for.html https://iggym.github.io/fde-field-notes/articles/what-the-job-selects-for.html Wed, 22 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000 The FDE role doesn't select for people skills. It selects for the ability to know the customer is wrong and say nothing — for three weeks.