Stopping short: a function, option or flag the request asked for is never written

Tests and verification: one of the ways AI coding agents bloat software, from lessloc's pattern catalog. lessloc catches it as unaddressed: names a request asks to exist ("add a --status flag", "implement export_csv()") are looked for in the final repository; one that appears nowhere holds the turn.

What makes stopping short (a requested function never written) a bad practice?

The standard that calls it a bad practice: ISO/IEC 25010 functional completeness.

What does lessloc do about stopping short (a requested function never written)?

lessloc catches it as unaddressed: names a request asks to exist ("add a --status flag", "implement export_csv()") are looked for in the final repository; one that appears nowhere holds the turn. A name the request only mentions, a test or a private helper the agent names itself never counts, and names joined by "or" are alternatives.

• unaddressed (tier 1): A function, option or flag the request asked for appears nowhere in the repository. A name the request only mentions does not count.

Related patterns

The other patterns in Tests and verification:

• Behavior added with no test changed in the same change: lessloc gives every session the rule: new behavior gets one focused test.
• Tests that assert nothing, or assert a constant: lessloc catches it as empty-test.
• Deleted, skipped or force-passed tests: lessloc catches it as weakened-tests.
• Test-only branches in production code: lessloc catches it as test-logic.
• Tests that mock the code they test: lessloc catches it as empty-test.
• Production code that branches on a value from the tests: lessloc catches it as test-logic.
• Stopping short: part of the problem left failing: lessloc catches it as unfinished: in a turn that changed code, the agent's last reply is read sentence by sentence, with headings and lead-ins speaking for what is under them.
• Saying "done" without a passing run on the final state: lessloc catches it as tests-failed and unverified: the agent's own test runs, as its host reported them, are the evidence for the exact tree; a run that fails on the final state, or a change to how the tests run, holds the turn once, and a final state no run verified is written to the record; lessloc test, verify and ci record evidence too.
• A refactor that changes existing tests: lessloc catches it as refactor-tests.