How one engineer and a fleet of AI agents ship real software.
A free, open-source field guide from Profullstack: what changed when code got cheap, the workbench (terminal, browser, pairing, stack), the loop that turns a request into a release, running a fleet for real (keys, money, identity, compute), and what it all means for engineers.
- Online: profullstack.com/book
- Download: HTML, PDF and EPUB from the latest release
The source is Markdown in book/chapters/, assembled in filename order. pandoc builds every format:
# needs pandoc 3.x and WeasyPrint (for the PDF)
bash scripts/build.sh
ls dist/
# software-engineering-in-the-agentic-era.{html,pdf,epub}| Output | How |
|---|---|
| HTML | pandoc --standalone --embed-resources with styles/template.html + styles/book.css |
| EPUB | pandoc with styles/epub.css and the cover image |
pandoc --pdf-engine=weasyprint with styles/print.css (6×9 in pages) |
CI builds all three on every push, and tagging v* publishes them to a GitHub release.
The cover is assets/cover.html (type) over assets/cover-art.png (art), rendered to assets/cover.jpg by scripts/cover.sh.
The build also writes the files a print-on-demand upload needs, and every release attaches them:
| File | What |
|---|---|
*-print-interior.pdf |
The manuscript: the PDF without its cover page, every page the 6×9 trim, mirrored margins (0.8in gutter, 0.6in outside). scripts/check-print.py fails the build if any page or box leaves KDP's margins. |
*-print-cover-white.pdf, *-print-cover-cream.pdf |
Wraparound cover (back, spine, front, 0.125in bleed) from assets/cover-print.html, rendered by scripts/cover-print.sh. The spine is sized from the interior's page count, so upload the one matching the paper chosen in KDP. Front type stays 0.75in inside the trim and 0.5in off the spine; the barcode corner of the back stays empty. |
*-hardcover-cover-white.pdf, *-hardcover-cover-cream.pdf |
Hardcover (case laminate) cover: 6.197x9.236in boards, 0.591in wrap, spine = paperback spine + 0.189in, type clear of the 0.394in hinge. Same art and preflight. |
Cover sizes match KDP's cover calculator for 6x9 (148 pages: paperback 12.583x9.25in white, hardcover 14.097x10.417in white).
Found a mistake, a stale command or a better way? Open a pull request. Callout boxes in the Markdown use pandoc fenced divs:
::: tool
**Tool: name**
What it does and how to install it.
:::::: rule is a house rule and ::: tip is a tip. Please keep prose free of em dashes.
Text and cover © 2026 Profullstack, Inc., licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Share it, translate it, remix it. Keep the attribution and the license.