The Cleric
The process will save us.
The Cleric believes that if the pipeline is green, the code is good. They automate everything — tests, reviews, deployments — and trust the automation more than the judgment it was supposed to support. When the automation approves slop, the Cleric approves it too.
Symptom
Green builds shipping things nobody understands, AI-generated tests verifying AI-generated code, and a quiet erosion of human judgment from the review loop.
Why It Matters
Automation that grades AI output using AI output is a closed loop with no anchor. Slop in, green check out. The Cleric is how that loop gets blessed.
What the Chapter Gives You
Where to keep humans in the loop on purpose, which automated checks actually catch slop, and how to use AI in CI without letting CI bless it.
Anti-Patterns
Artifacts
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