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aard

This is wonderful, thanks! I was unaware of these!
I've been experimenting with making AI generate literate code. The goal is to have the AI produce a bunch of prose alongside the code. A lot of context for the purpose and design of what you are doing usually gets thrown away, but with literate programming you can save it. And this way I can have some hope of understanding the code being created. I've liked it so far.

I am using a literate programming project I built (https://github.com/adam-ard/organic-markdown) and I have an AGENTS.md file that looks like this:

"All the work we do on this project should utilize the organic-markdown literate style that you see explained/demonstrated in the `organic-markdown` project: https://github.com/adam-ard/organic-markdown

Some guidelines for how you should utilize organic-markdown literate programming..."

Then I list a bunch of conventions for making literate code the way I like it.

Re:Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (June 2025) on Sunday June 29, 2025 @10:39PM (#44418715)
I've been working on my own version of a literate programming system (https://github.com/adam-ard/organic-markdown). It's kind of a mix of emacs org-mode, jupyter, and Zettelkasten. But, because it's based on standard pandoc-style markdown, you can use it with a much wider range of tools. Any markdown editor will do.

Even though I made it as a toy/proof of concept, it's turned out to be pretty useful for small to medium size projects. As I've used it, I've found all kinds of interesting benefits and helpful usage patterns. I've tried to document some; I hope to do more soon.

--https://rethinkingsoftware.substack.com/p/the-joy-of-literat...

--https://rethinkingsoftware.substack.com/p/organic-markdown-i...

--https://rethinkingsoftware.substack.com/p/dry-on-steroids-wi...

--https://rethinkingsoftware.substack.com/p/literate-testing

--https://www.youtube.com/@adam-ard/videos

The project is at a very early stage, but is finally stable enough that I thought it'd be fun to throw out here and see what people think. It's definitely my own unique spin on literate programming and it's been a lot of fun. See what you think!

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