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Driving a coding agent in an interview

  • AI coding round
  • Specialist topic or differentiator
  • About 75 min to learn
  • 3 vetted resources
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What this topic covers

AI-assisted coding rounds no longer score whether the code works; the agent can make it work. They score how you run the agent: which parts of the problem you hand off and which you keep (algorithm choice, data model, trade-offs), whether you ask for small reviewable pieces instead of one giant generation, and whether you check the complexity, edge cases and tests yourself before accepting anything. Interviewers listen for you catching the agent's mistakes out loud and for you being able to explain every line it wrote, because the follow-ups (concurrency, production hardening, a refactor) are where most candidates fall over. Persistent project context (CLAUDE.md or rules files) and a plan-before-code phase are the habits that make this look effortless rather than frantic.

Builds on

You’re ready when you can

What interviewers check, from the resources below.

  • List two questions you'd ask the interviewer before typing a single prompt
  • Decide, for a given problem, which decisions you keep and which you delegate to the agent
  • Verify an agent's Big-O claim and name two edge cases it missed, out loud
  • Split a 30-minute task into three prompts you can each review in under two minutes
  • Explain why the follow-up round, not the first solution, decides the outcome
  • State the four things LinkedIn's evaluators look at and give one example of each
  • Name a problem type where reaching for the agent costs more time than it saves
  • Write the tests for an agent-generated LRU cache before asking the agent to run them
  • Rewrite a vague prompt so it names the file, the edge case, and the check the agent must run
  • Explain when plan mode is worth its overhead and when to skip it

What to study, in order

Each link opened and checked by hand; the date says when.

  1. Start here

    What AI-Assisted Coding Interviews Actually Score (opens in a new tab)

    Formation Blog · Formation · 20 min · Free · checked 21 Oct 2026

    Why
    It lays out the four behaviours an AI-allowed round grades (clarify, own the design, verify, work in small steps), which is exactly the checklist interviewers use.
    What to read
    Read “What actually changed” through “Work in bounded, reviewable steps”; the rate-limiter walkthrough is the part to study closely.
    What to skip
    “If your target company bans AI” and “What this means for preparation” unless you're also prepping no-AI rounds.

  2. Free alternative

    LinkedIn's AI-Enabled Coding Interview: How to Prepare (opens in a new tab)

    Hello Interview · Evan King · 20 min · Free · checked 21 Oct 2026

    Why
    A concrete, company-specific account of the two-act flow (first solution, then follow-ups) that shows where candidates lose points when the agent did the typing.
    What to read
    Read “How the interview works” through “How LinkedIn evaluates you”, then “Practice the two-act flow”, “Know when to use AI and when to skip it” and “Don't skip testing”.
    What to skip
    “Get comfortable with CoderPad” and “Master your boilerplate speed” if you already type fluently; the Premium promo blocks.

  3. Go deeper

    Best practices for Claude Code (opens in a new tab)

    Claude Code docs · Anthropic · 35 min · Free · checked 21 Oct 2026

    Why
    The operating manual for the agent you'll most likely be handed: closing the loop with a runnable check, plan-before-code, a short CLAUDE.md, and correcting early.
    What to read
    Read “Give Claude a way to verify its work”, “Explore first, then plan, then code”, “Provide specific context in your prompts”, “Write an effective CLAUDE.md”, “Course-correct early and often”, and “Avoid common failure patterns”.
    What to skip
    “Configure permissions”, MCP/hooks/plugins, and everything under “Automate and scale”; irrelevant inside a 45-minute interview.

Companies that test AI coding round most

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