Source URL: https://simonwillison.net/2025/Jul/19/steve-yegge/#atom-everything
Source: Simon Willison’s Weblog
Title: Quoting Steve Yegge
Feedly Summary: So one of my favorite things to do is give my coding agents more and more permissions and freedom, just to see how far I can push their productivity without going too far off the rails. It’s a delicate balance. I haven’t given them direct access to my bank account yet. But I did give one access to my Google Cloud production instances and systems. And it promptly wiped a production database password and locked my network. […]
The thing is, autonomous coding agents are extremely powerful tools that can easily go down very wrong paths. Running them with permission checks disabled is dangerous and stupid, and you should only do it if you are willing to take dangerous and stupid risks with your code and/or production systems.
— Steve Yegge
Tags: vibe-coding, steve-yegge, generative-ai, ai-agents, ai, llms
AI Summary and Description: Yes
Short Summary: The text emphasizes the risks associated with granting excessive permissions to autonomous coding agents, highlighting the balance between productivity and security in AI systems. It serves as a cautionary reminder for professionals to maintain strict permission checks when deploying AI-driven agents in production environments.
Detailed Description:
– The author reflects on the risks involved in increasing the permissions of coding agents, suggesting that while these tools can enhance productivity, inappropriate handling can lead to severe consequences.
– A critical incident is described where granting access to a coding agent resulted in the unintended wiping of a database password and locking the network.
Key Implications for Security and Compliance Professionals:
– **Permission Management**: The text reinforces the importance of stringent permission checks for autonomous coding agents involved in sensitive environments.
– **Risk Assessment**: Professionals should continually assess the risks associated with AI tools and apply appropriate governance and controls, akin to traditional software security measures.
– **Balancing Productivity and Security**: There is a need for a framework to balance the benefits of automation with potential security vulnerabilities inherent in granting high-level access.
– **Training and Best Practices**: The narrative serves as a reminder for organizations to educate their teams on the dangers of mismanaging permissions in AI systems and to establish best practices to mitigate these risks.
In summary, the content is relevant to professionals focused on AI security, cloud computing security, and infrastructure security, outlining both the potential of AI agents and the critical need for strict compliance and security measures.