Since the AI is coming, the AI is coming, I wanted to share something with the forum. What I’ve been doing with my iOS and macOS app development in Xcode using my LLM is to have a project.md file that both I and the LLM access and update. You have to watch out for stepping on each other, but generally I don’t touch the file while I’m having the LLM do something, and I’ve instructed the LLM to only update the file upon completing a build.
The file is Markdown and looks like this:
last update: Claude at 10:40am September 15, 2026 (build 12)
# ProjectX To-Do Plan
**Status legend:** ✅ done · ⬜ to do · ⏳ deferred (likely 2.0) · 🚫 not feasible (system-controlled)
## ProjectX 1.0 Changes
1. ✅ something I wanted the LLM to do.
2. ✅ something I wanted the LLM to do.
3. ⬜ something I've added to the project list not yet done.
### ProjectX 1.0 Bugs
- ⬜ bug description
## ProjectX 2.0 Features
1. ⬜ something I'll want the LLM to do.
2. ⬜ something I'll want the LLM to do.
My current Project is way more complicated than this, but you get the idea. I’m using the Plan file as a keeper of what’s been done (and when) as well as what needs to be done. I’ll ask the LLM to tackle, say #1 in the Change list and look at anything in the outstanding bug list to see if it can be fixed, have it work and build and update the .MD file. Then I’ll test and check to verify. We work our way through one or more of my design requests each iteration, and they get marked as done when done.
You’ll note the 2.0 plan. This is important to avoid architectural changes down the line. If the LLM knows the full plan of what you want to do further down the line, it can build things considering those future needs so that you don’t end up at some point rebuilding everything.
You could just do this sequentially in chat with the LLM, but for big and complex projects, you’ll start to lose track of what was done, or at least have to do a lot of scrolling to find what the AI said it did and didn’t do. I find it far easier to just have a current .MD plan file that we’re both working from.