Guide Articles

Step-by-step guides and tutorials for AI tools, frameworks, and implementations. Practical how-to content for developers and practitioners.

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Three AI coding tools mapped to a production build pipeline: prototyping, IDE work, and agentic refactoring stages
MAX guide 13 min

How to Ship a Production App with Cursor, Claude Code, and Windsurf in 2026

How to Ship a Production App with Cursor, Claude Code, and Windsurf in 2026 TL;DR

Three-engine code migration pipeline routing JVM, JavaScript, and Java version upgrades into automated AST recipes.
MAX guide 13 min

How to Automate Framework and Version Upgrades with Moderne, Codemod, and Amazon Q in 2026

How to Automate Framework and Version Upgrades with Moderne, Codemod, and Amazon Q in 2026 TL;DR

Specification map for building an MCP server: transports, tool capabilities, and editor host config
MAX guide 14 min

How to Build an MCP Server with the Official TypeScript and Python SDKs in 2026

How to Build an MCP Server with the Official TypeScript and Python SDKs in 2026 TL;DR

Specification-first framework for AI code migration across COBOL to Java, Python 2 to 3, and React legacy systems
MAX guide 13 min

Using AI to Translate Python 2 to Python 3 and Convert COBOL to Java in 2026

Using AI to Translate Python 2 to Python 3 and Convert COBOL to Java in 2026 TL;DR

Refactoring workflow combining Claude Code Plan Mode, Cursor Subagents, and Aider architect mode across a legacy monolith
MAX guide 14 min

How to Refactor a Legacy Codebase with Claude Code, Cursor, and Aider in 2026

How to Refactor a Legacy Codebase with Claude Code, Cursor, and Aider in 2026 TL;DR

Documentation pipeline routing code commits into AI tools that produce docstrings, API references, and living developer docs
MAX guide 16 min

How to Auto-Generate Docstrings, API References, and Living Docs with Mintlify and DocuWriter in 2026

How to Auto-Generate Docstrings, API References, and Living Docs with Mintlify and DocuWriter in …

Specification framework for debugging production bugs with AI coding assistants in 2026
MAX guide 15 min

How to Debug Production Bugs with Claude Code, Cursor, and Copilot Chat in 2026

How to Debug Production Bugs with Claude Code, Cursor, and Copilot Chat in 2026 TL;DR

Generated unit tests passing in a GitHub Actions run beside a coverage report and a pull request review surface
MAX guide 17 min

How to Generate High-Quality Unit Tests with Qodo Cover-Agent, Diffblue, and Claude Code in 2026

How to Generate High-Quality Unit Tests with Qodo Cover-Agent, Diffblue, and Claude Code in 2026 …

GitHub pull request annotated with AI review comments inline on a diff, showing review surfaces
MAX guide 15 min

How to Integrate AI Code Review with Qodo, CodeRabbit, and Greptile in Your GitHub Workflow in 2026

How to Integrate AI Code Review with Qodo, CodeRabbit, and Greptile in Your GitHub Workflow in 2026 …

Side-by-side AI code completion editors showing Cursor Tab, GitHub Copilot, and a self-hosted Continue stack
MAX guide 16 min

How to Set Up AI Code Completion with Cursor Tab, GitHub Copilot, and Continue in 2026

How to Set Up AI Code Completion with Cursor Tab, GitHub Copilot, and Continue in 2026 TL;DR

Retrieval-augmented agent architecture diagram with control flow, document retrieval, and role orchestration layers
MAX guide 12 min

How to Build a Retrieval-Augmented Agent with LangGraph, LlamaIndex, and CrewAI in 2026

How to Build a Retrieval-Augmented Agent with LangGraph, LlamaIndex, and CrewAI in 2026 TL;DR

Browser-agent three-layer architecture: decision model, action surface, and sandboxed browser environment.
MAX guide 15 min

How to Build a Browser Agent with Anthropic Computer Use, OpenAI Operator, and Browser Use in 2026

How to Build a Browser Agent with Anthropic Computer Use, OpenAI Operator, and Browser Use in 2026 …

Three-layer architecture for safely running model-generated code: planning, tool wrapper, and isolated sandbox runtime
MAX guide 14 min

How to Build a Code Execution Agent with E2B, Daytona, and Claude Agent SDK in 2026

How to Build a Code Execution Agent with E2B, Daytona, and Claude Agent SDK in 2026 TL;DR

Three-layer orchestration stack: durable workflow on top, agent state machine in the middle, data pipeline at the base
MAX guide 15 min

How to Build a Production AI Workflow with LangGraph, Temporal, and Prefect in 2026

How to Build a Production AI Workflow with LangGraph, Temporal, and Prefect in 2026 TL;DR

Specification blueprint for retry, fallback, and self-correction loops in production AI agents
MAX guide 14 min

How to Build Retry, Fallback, and Self-Correction in AI Agents (2026)

A specification-first guide to retry with backoff, durable execution via LangGraph and Temporal, and Pydantic AI …

Specification blueprint for routing, caching, and budget control across production AI agent stacks
MAX guide 16 min

How to Cut Agent Costs with OpenRouter, Helicone, and LiteLLM (2026)

A specification-first guide to cutting agent API spend with OpenRouter routing, Helicone and LiteLLM prompt caching, and …

AI agent trace with nested spans, token counters, and tool-call timing in LangSmith, Langfuse, and OpenTelemetry GenAI
MAX guide 16 min

Instrument an AI Agent: LangSmith, Langfuse, OTel GenAI (2026)

Instrument a production AI agent with LangSmith, Langfuse, and OpenTelemetry GenAI semconv in 2026 — span design, SDK …

Layered guardrail components wrapping an autonomous agent runtime in production
MAX guide 15 min

Agent Guardrails 2026: NeMo, Llama Guard, Claude SDK Hooks

Build agent guardrails that survive production. Stack NeMo input rails, Llama Guard 4 classifiers, and Claude Agent SDK …

Approval gate diagram: agent paused before a high-stakes action while a human reviews approve, edit, or reject
MAX guide 14 min

Adding Human Approval Gates to AI Agents Without Killing Throughput

Stop your agent from sending the wrong email or paying the wrong invoice. Spec-first guide to human approval gates in …

Stateful AI agent architecture combining LangGraph checkpointer, Mem0 memory layer, and Zep temporal knowledge graph
MAX guide 15 min

Build a Stateful Agent with LangGraph, Mem0, and Zep in 2026

Stateful agents need three storage layers, not one. Wire LangGraph, Mem0, and Zep into an agent that survives restarts …

Three-layer specification for catching agent regressions before they reach users in 2026
MAX guide 14 min

Agent Evaluation Pipeline: LangSmith, Braintrust, DeepEval (2026)

Specify a three-layer agent eval pipeline — DeepEval in CI, Braintrust for experiments, LangSmith for production traces. …

Decision flowchart comparing LangGraph, CrewAI, AutoGen, and LlamaIndex Workflows for agent framework selection in 2026
MAX guide 12 min

Which Agent Framework Fits? Matching State, Control, and Scale

Choosing between LangGraph, CrewAI, AutoGen, or LlamaIndex Workflows in 2026? Decompose your agent system, match …

Multi-agent system architecture diagram: supervisor routing, agent handoffs, and shared state across LangGraph, CrewAI, and OpenAI SDK
MAX guide 14 min

Choose Your Multi-Agent Topology Before You Pick a Framework

A specification-first guide to building multi-agent systems in 2026. Learn when to pick LangGraph, CrewAI, OpenAI Agents …

Layered architecture for adding persistent memory to AI agents using Mem0, Letta, and Zep across episodic and semantic recall
MAX guide 18 min

Persistent Memory for AI Agents: Mem0 vs Letta vs Zep (2026)

Spec a persistent memory layer for AI agents with Mem0, Letta, or Zep. A four-step decomposition for choosing the stack …

Planning agent decision framework: pattern selection and validation for ReAct, Plan-and-Execute, Reflexion, and ReWOO across LangGraph, CrewAI, and AutoGen in 2026
MAX guide 15 min

Planning Agents in Practice: ReAct, Plan-and-Execute, and Reflexion

Planning agents fail when frameworks come before patterns. Match ReAct, Plan-and-Execute, Reflexion, or ReWOO to your …

Multimodal RAG pipeline diagram with PDF pages flowing into vision retrievers, embeddings, and a RAG orchestration engine.
MAX guide 15 min

Build a Multimodal RAG Pipeline with ColPali, Jina v4, RAGFlow in 2026

Multimodal RAG turns PDF pages, charts, and screenshots into searchable knowledge. Spec a 2026 stack with ColPali, Jina …

Document parsing pipeline routing PDFs through layout, extraction, and structure layers for RAG
MAX guide 15 min

How to Build a Document Parsing Pipeline with LlamaParse, Unstructured, and Docling in 2026

Build a document parsing pipeline that routes PDFs to LlamaParse, Unstructured, or Docling by complexity. A …

Specification blueprint linking entities, relationships, and vector embeddings across a graph and vector database for GraphRAG.
MAX guide 15 min

How to Build a GraphRAG Pipeline with Neo4j and LightRAG in 2026

Build a knowledge-graph RAG pipeline with Microsoft GraphRAG, Neo4j vector indexes, and LightRAG. Decompose components, …

Metadata filter contract routing a vector query through tenant, date, and permission gates before it reaches the index
MAX guide 16 min

Metadata Filtering in Qdrant, Weaviate, Milvus & Pinecone (2026)

Specification-first guide to metadata filtering in Qdrant, Weaviate, Milvus, and Pinecone — tenancy, date filters, and …

Decision framework comparing long-context window, RAG retriever, and hybrid pipeline routes for 2026 AI applications
MAX guide 15 min

Long-Context vs RAG vs Hybrid: A 2026 Decision Framework

Long-context, RAG, or hybrid? A 2026 spec-driven framework for choosing between Gemini 3.1 Pro 1M, Claude Sonnet 4.6, …