Correcting course mid-turn

If a response is not going the way you expected, the fastest fix is simply saying so once tCode replies, the same way you would correct a person: "that test is checking the wrong thing," or "use the existing logger instead of print statements."

This works because the next turn incorporates your correction directly into its reasoning rather than needing the original request restated or rephrased from scratch. There is no special syntax for a correction; it is exactly the plain-language follow-up it looks like.

This matters most early on, while you are still developing a sense for how specific to be in a request. A slightly underspecified first prompt is rarely a wasted turn, since steering the result afterward is just as natural as specifying everything perfectly up front.

A correction does not need to explain everything that was wrong, just the specific thing you want changed. "Use pytest fixtures instead of manual setup" is enough context on its own; tCode does not need a full re-explanation of the original request alongside it.

If a correction itself gets declined or misunderstood, the same pattern applies recursively: say what was still wrong, plainly, and the turn after that incorporates it the same way. There is no limit to how many times this loop can run within a session.