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Previous Issues of
The Modern Engineer

Issue #19: Deterministic Context Budgeting for Reliable LLM Prompting
Issue #19: Deterministic Context Budgeting for Reliable LLM Prompting
March 14, 2026
Build a deterministic context budgeting pipeline that prioritizes required evidence, enforces token limits, and composes inspectable prompts.
Issue #18: Structured Inputs and Outputs for Deterministic LLM Systems
Issue #18: Structured Inputs and Outputs for Deterministic LLM Systems
March 7, 2026
Use structured JSON inputs and outputs to make LLM systems predictable with typed parsing, validation, and deterministic routing.
Issue #17: Deterministic Semantic Retrieval with Embeddings and Vector Search
Issue #17: Deterministic Semantic Retrieval with Embeddings and Vector Search
February 28, 2026
Learn the core AI pattern for semantic retrieval with embeddings as representation, deterministic vector ranking, thresholded control, and optional pgvector scaling.
Issue #16: Production-Grade AI Agents with Microsoft Agent Framework and Deterministic Guardrails
Issue #16: Production-Grade AI Agents with Microsoft Agent Framework and Deterministic Guardrails
February 21, 2026
Build a local-first incident triage agent with Microsoft Agent Framework using structured workflows, deterministic policy enforcement, and explicit runtime guardrails.
Issue #15: Spec-Driven AI-Assisted Coding and Agent Control
Issue #15: Spec-Driven AI-Assisted Coding and Agent Control
February 14, 2026
Spec-driven AI-assisted coding treats specifications as execution contracts, constraining agent behavior for predictable, production-grade outcomes.
Issue #14: Intent Routing and Deterministic AI Control Flow
Issue #14: Intent Routing and Deterministic AI Control Flow
February 7, 2026
Build a local-first .NET intent router that keeps routing, tools, and safety deterministic while using embeddings only for disambiguation under controlled thresholds.
Issue #13: Evaluation, Observability, and Feedback Loops in Production AI Systems
Issue #13: Evaluation, Observability, and Feedback Loops in Production AI Systems
January 31, 2026
Build an evaluation harness with telemetry and feedback loops to gate local AI releases with measurable reliability. Track quality over time, catch regressions early, and ship with clear deployment thresholds.
Issue #12: Guardrails, Constraints, and Failure Modes in Production AI Systems
Issue #12: Guardrails, Constraints, and Failure Modes in Production AI Systems
January 24, 2026
Build a minimal but production-aligned guardrailed AI assistant in C# that runs fully locally using Ollama, focusing on clear boundaries, strict contracts, deterministic execution, and safe failure modes.
Issue #11: Building a Local Semantic Runbook Search Engine with Ollama and Microsoft.Extensions.AI
Issue #11: Building a Local Semantic Runbook Search Engine with Ollama and Microsoft.Extensions.AI
January 17, 2026
Build a local semantic search engine for engineering runbooks using Ollama and Microsoft.Extensions.AI for deterministic retrieval.
Issue #10: Building a Reactive Local AI Agent with Semantic Kernel and Ollama
Issue #10: Building a Reactive Local AI Agent with Semantic Kernel and Ollama
January 10, 2026
Build a reactive local AI agent using Semantic Kernel and Ollama for deterministic tool execution and natural language reasoning.

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