01 Scope before shortlist
Start with the backlog, repo rules, and reviewer. Then ask for a programmer who fits the work, not a pile of vague profiles.
No rate card or mystery shortlist. The first conversation is about the work.
owner: your tech lead
first work: low-risk tickets
merge: review required
release: your team approvesBefore a candidate search
Define the ticketName the reviewerLimit the accessWrite the handoff02 The sprint desk
Spell out what changes, how it gets checked, and who can ship it. That gives a developer something real to respond to.
Pick a small set of bugs and maintenance tasks with acceptance rules already attached.
Checkout bugRepro steps and expected result included
review
Dependency updatesOne package group per pull request
queued
Setup notesFix the commands that block a clean install
draft03 Workstreams
These starting points keep the first assignment narrow enough to review and useful enough to matter.
Ongoing programming support for small teams that need backlog cleanup, release notes, ticket updates, and careful code handoffs.
Developer-backed support for SaaS and web teams that need bugs sorted, repro steps written, and fixes routed to the right owner.
Programming admin support for teams that need setup docs, SOPs, changelog notes, and clearer developer handoffs.
QA support for outsourced programming teams that need test notes, bug logs, release checks, and manager-ready status reports.
04 A controlled start
Give the programmer a small path into the codebase. Keep a named technical owner on every decision that can affect customers.
Share setup docs, sample pull requests, and limited access. Keep credentials out of chat and loose documents.
Use work with clear examples. Check the code, the notes, and how quickly questions surface.
Your technical owner decides what merges and what ships. Expand ownership only after the working rhythm is solid.
Test signature parsing, timestamp tolerance, raw-body handling, and replay rejection without exposing production secrets.
Trace writes, tags, keys, expiry, and stale reads using synthetic records and a controlled cache.
Check cursor stability, ordering, gaps, duplicates, and authorization as records change between requests.
06 Start with the real backlog