Watch This If Your Coding Agent is Ignoring Your Rules (You Need Hooks)

YouTube · Watch/Read · (gathered 2026-08-29)

• Cole Medin argues that “hooks” are the most underappreciated and crucial component of coding agents, often more important than rules, because they provide guarantees for workflows that agents cannot ignore.
• Unlike rules, which are merely guidance and can be bypassed, hooks enforce specific actions or checks at defined points, ensuring reliability and preventing agents from going “off-script.”
• Over-reliance on rules can actually make agents perform worse (citing the “self-evolving harness study”), highlighting the need for hooks. Cole offers a “hooks-create skill” to easily generate new hooks by describing the desired guarantee.
• Practical applications include guaranteeing test execution (e.g., a “Stop hook” to prevent code submission without passing tests) and bolstering security measures within agentic workflows.
• Hooks are meant to complement, not entirely replace, existing rules, serving as an enforcement layer for non-negotiable aspects of a workflow.