Outfitter: An Exploration in Agent-Driven Software Development
Greetings, explorers…
I’m Matt, known to some on the internet as mg, and I’d like to introduce you to a *thing* I’m calling Outfitter. For now, it’s the banner under which I’m releasing some software explorations—and sharing what I’m learning while building them. The name is meant to capture the journey of building software, along with the tools, provisions, and guidance any expedition needs.
By way of background, I’ve been building software for nearly two decades. Across five startups I co-founded, I’ve usually been the “product guy,” surfacing a new insight and working with teams to bring something into the world. Saying I “build software” always felt odd, though, because I wasn’t the builder. That is, until LLMs and coding agents came along.
For a while now I’ve immersed myself in these tools to see if I could break free of that “never the builder” limitation and finally *build* software.
The promise of “you can just do things” was intoxicating, but many early attempts fell short. There were bugs galore, code that was unmaintainable, and countless hours lost to ill-fated ideas—often met with a tone-deaf, wildly inaccurate “you’re absolutely right!”
It’s been a trail—exhilarating, frustrating, full of epiphanies and challenges—but eventually a path seemed to emerge. That’s where we are today.
In trying to build with agents, I constantly found myself building the scaffolding around them: tools, workflows, docs, and rules needed to reach the goals I set. Without these things, so often they just seemed to wander. I wasn’t doing it just for the *vibes*, either. I wanted to see if real, maintainable, scalable software could be built by a solo, non-developer. The verdict is still out on that one, but it feels long past time to start sharing.
As Outfitter, I’ll share the tools, workflows, and lessons I’ve co-created with agents to actually ship real things. Most of my colleagues and contemporaries know just how much more it takes than an idea, some wireframes, and good taste, to build things that can stand the test of time (and, well, their use). I truly believe that with the agents available today, supplied with the right support, can get there. Systems thinkers, non-linear dreamers, and creative problem-solvers, regardless of development experience should be able to ship actual products—not just prototypes and toys.
That’s the aim of Outfitter: to help folks like me see their visions through to the other side. It’s not clear where this journey will lead yet for me, or these experiments I’ll put out there. But I’m called to it, so I must try. The potential ahead pulls in a way I can’t easily put into my own words, so I’ll lean on Thoreau:
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.
Here’s to the journey. I’ll try to bring the supplies…