Live Coding — Quick Reference Card
⚡ Scannable one-pager — glance at this right before you walk in
🔬 From the Full Prep Guide →. Glance at this right before you walk in.
T-Minus 10
□ Permissions pre-allowed
□ Repo warm, AI has read the codebase
□ CLAUDE.md / .cursorrules in place
□ Parallel agents: OFF
□ /clear — fresh context
□ Drawing tool open in separate window
□ Phone timer visible (narration budget)
Minute-Zero Line
"Walk me through what you'd want this prototype to do, then I'll sketch a thin slice, ask a couple questions, and we'll build from there."
Prep 0 (First 5 Minutes)
- Thin slice — "Smallest version that works end-to-end, then add layers."
- Two scope questions — pick two: biggest constraint? prototype vs. production? what makes it a win?
- One stack-bridge line — "I'll use [stack] because [their constraint]."
Six Mantras (≤10 words each)
| # | Mantra |
|---|---|
| 1 | "Done with X. Next: Y, because Z." ← the unsheddable one |
| 2 | "Screen shows what. I'm saying why." |
| 3 | "One thing I checked: [specific]." |
| 4 | "Typo." / "I've seen this." / "Let me think." / "External." |
| 5 | "Let me sketch — three moving parts." |
| 6 | "What would you poke at first?" |
Overload: when you can only do one thing
→ "Done with X. Next: Y, because Z."
The five principles: R³·D²
Recover · Reveal · Review · Debug · Draw — breadcrumbs, commentary, one suitcase, triage nurse, napkin.
Debug Triage
| Tier | Say | Do |
|---|---|---|
| Typo | "Typo." | Fix instantly. |
| Known | "I've seen this." | Verify. 30s max. |
| Internal | "Let me think." | 3 hypotheses, then ask. |
| External | "External." | Check service/key/rate-limit FIRST. |
AI Craft
- Generation wait = free narration. Talk while it generates.
- Rule of Two. One fix-prompt. Still wrong? Write it yourself.
- Interrupt bad generations. "Wrong direction — canceling."
- /clear between major features.
Landing (T-15)
- Feature freeze. "No new features."
- Happy path demo. "Here's the core flow."
- One deliberate failure. Pick it — don't discover it.
- "What would you poke at first?"
Finishing early?
"I have time — harden something specific or talk through what I'd add?"
Chaos
| Situation | Response |
|---|---|
| Task too big | "Where should I focus?" |
| "Whatever you think" | Pick reversible option. Move on. |
| Need to re-plan | "30 seconds to replan." Then do it. |
| "Don't use AI" | "Got it." Close it. Prove you can code. |
| Unknown stack | Bridge to yours. Patterns transfer. |
Budget
≤10 minutes total narration. Track on phone timer. Past 5 min by T-30? Mantra-only.
Rehearsal Self-Check
□ Minute-zero line + Prep 0? Or started coding immediately?
□ "Done with X. Next: Y, because Z" after every unit?
□ Triage before debugging? Or typo got a 3-min investigation?
□ Generation waits used as narration? Or sat silent?
□ Feature freeze at T-15 and landed the plane?
□ Would I want to pair-program with this person?
Checkpoint — answer before revealing1 of 4
What single question is the interviewer trying to answer during a live-coding round?
Put this into practiceRecalling beats rereading — retrieval practice is the best-supported technique in the evidence base.
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