You open the project your agent built and the sidebar is a wall of files. A .ts here, a .json there, a .env, a README.md, a Dockerfile with no extension at all. Most of them you will never edit by hand. This chapter gives you the quick read: glance at any file and know what it is for, and whether it is yours to touch.
5.3.1Every file is code, config, data, or not yours
Almost every file falls into one of four buckets, and sorting them is most of the battle:
| Kind | Holds | Looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Code | the logic that runs | .ts, .tsx, .py |
| Config | settings and wiring | .env, .yaml, tsconfig.json |
| Data | information the app reads | .json |
| Not yours | code you installed or your machine generated | node_modules/, dist/ |
Name the bucket first and no file looks like noise.
5.3.2The biggest folders are not yours to touch
Nearly every file in the project sits in that fourth bucket, and none of it is yours. Three folders account for almost all of it:
node_modules/, orvenv/in Python: the outside code you installed. Thousands of files, owned by your package manager, the tool that installs and updates them.dist/,build/, or.next/: the packaged copy of your app your machine generated. Delete it and the next build writes it again..git/: where version control keeps its own history.
Collapse all three in your sidebar and leave them collapsed. Nothing in them is ever edited by hand, and your .gitignore already keeps them out of version control.
5.3.3JSON and YAML hold your data
Two formats carry most of the data and settings you will see. JSON is the everyday one, used by data files and by package.json:
YAML says the same kind of thing with less punctuation, and shows up in config and deploy files:
Both just store labeled values. You can read them straight off the page, which is the whole point of them.
5.3.4Config and secrets stay out of the code
Configuration is everything that changes between your laptop and the live server: the database address, an API key, a feature toggle. It lives apart from the code so the same code runs anywhere.
The values that differ per machine are environment variables, usually listed in a file named .env:
A secret like that key lives in .env, never pasted into the code, because code gets shared and read while .env stays private. The Secure part covers why that line matters and how to keep it airtight.
5.3.5The rest you just need to recognize
A handful more you only need to recognize, not master:
- Markdown (
.md) is plain text with light formatting. YourREADME, the front-door notes for a project, is Markdown. package.jsonlists the outside code your app depends on. The lockfile beside it pins the exact versions, and your package manager writes it, never you.- A
Dockerfileand other infra files describe how the app is packaged and run on a server. Your agent writes these, and the Ship part is where they matter.
You recognize the shape and move on. The agent handles the contents.
Do this now: paste the prompt over your repo. Have the agent label every file type in plain words, so the sidebar stops being a wall of unknowns.
