Working · Keep It Organised, Connected and Checked
Check the output before you use it
Every assistant on this page can be confidently wrong. The habit that saves you is the same everywhere: treat the answer as a draft until you've checked it.
The habit
- For facts: ask where each claim came from, and open the source.
- For writing: read it out loud once. If you wouldn't say it, change it.
- For code: read the diff before you accept it, and run the tests.
- For anything that acts on your behalf: say "plan first, then wait for me".
Side by side
- Claude: in Claude Code, read the diff before you accept it. The Claude Code course has a lesson on it.
- ChatGPT and Codex: Codex's approval setting can ask before it acts (
on-request), and its sandbox can be read-only. - Grok: ask it to list its sources, then open them yourself.
- Cursor: Plan mode drafts a plan for you to review before you click Build; Ask mode never edits.
Checked against each vendor's docs on 2026-10-14: Codex sandboxing and approvals, Cursor Plan mode, Cursor Ask mode.
Try these prompts
- Review your last answer as a skeptical editor. List every claim I should check before publishing, and how I'd check each one.Open in ChatGPT (new tab)Open in Claude (new tab)
- Before you change anything, write the plan and wait for me to say go.Open in ChatGPT (new tab)Open in Claude (new tab)
Ask me about this lesson
I'll answer from "Check the output before you use it" and the rest of the academy.
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