Fix · Problems with AI tools

The AI says "done" but nothing works

Blocks your work

What you may see

It reports success but the page is unchanged or broken
The feature looks finished but a button does nothing

Most likely cause

The tool describes what it intended, not what happened; it may have changed the wrong file, left placeholder code, or never run the app.

Check first (about two minutes)

Does the app start, and does the exact thing you asked for work when YOU try it?
Look at git status: did anything change at all?

The fix prompt

What you type here never leaves your browser. The search runs on this page, and nothing is sent to a server or to an AI.

The exact error or what you see

What you did before it happened

Kept only in this browser, on this device. Keys and passwords are removed before anything is saved.

Prompt language

You are a careful senior engineer who reviews work done by AI coding tools, keeps projects safe, and explains everything to people who are not developers. I am not a developer, so explain every step in plain words and tell me exactly which button, menu or command you mean. If you are not sure about something, say so; do not guess.

THE PROBLEM
The AI says "done" but nothing works

THE EXACT ERROR OR WHAT I SEE
[paste the exact error here]

WHAT I DID BEFORE IT HAPPENED
[write in a few words what you did before it happened]

MOST LIKELY CAUSE
The tool describes what it intended, not what happened; it may have changed the wrong file, left placeholder code, or never run the app.

DO THESE STEPS, IN THIS ORDER
1. List exactly which files you changed for this request and show me the key lines of each.
2. Run the app (or the build and tests) and show me the real output. Do not say it works unless you ran it.
3. Find any placeholder, TODO, fake data or hard-coded value you left, and replace it with the real logic or tell me clearly it is missing.
4. Give me a short test I can do myself in the browser (steps and the expected result).
Stop and tell me if what you see does not match a step. Do not skip ahead.

CHECK THAT IT WORKED
- I follow the test steps and see the expected result with my own eyes.
Tell me exactly what I should see on the screen when it works.

DO NOT CHANGE
- Do not claim success without evidence from a run.
- Anything I did not ask about: the design, the text, other pages, other settings or the data.
- Do not delete files, data or branches, do not reset or force-push, and do not rewrite history, unless you first show me exactly what would be lost and I say yes.
- Do not paste, print or ask me to paste a password or secret key into this chat. If one is needed, tell me which settings page of the right service to store it in.

WHEN YOU FINISH
Explain in simple words what you changed (file by file or setting by setting), why you changed it, and how I can undo it.

Paste it into Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or Cursor, then follow what it says.

After you tried it, did it work?

Steps

List exactly which files you changed for this request and show me the key lines of each.
Run the app (or the build and tests) and show me the real output. Do not say it works unless you ran it.
Find any placeholder, TODO, fake data or hard-coded value you left, and replace it with the real logic or tell me clearly it is missing.
Give me a short test I can do myself in the browser (steps and the expected result).

Do not do this

Do not accept "done" as proof.
Do not claim success without evidence from a run.

Try another entry