Summary
Nate Herk examines the viral Reverse Engineer Anything GitHub repo, which lets an AI agent study an existing app or feature and then recreate it. After building games, tools, and apps with it, he argues the technique is impressive but not fundamentally new, and explains the mindset that gets the best results.
His central point is that AI is not especially creative, but it executes well when given a clear target. He shows earlier examples built before the repo existed: a skill that edits Instagram reels in his style after analyzing about 30 of his top-performing videos frame by frame, and a skill modeled on a motion-design edit by Jordan Watkins. He also shows a Loom-style screen recorder built by pointing an agent at the real product, with a camera bubble and recording countdown.
He explains the process using a bakery analogy: inspect the finished product, decompile how it works, build your own version, and iterate until the behavior matches. Rather than asking an agent to clone an entire product, he recommends choosing specific features you like, such as from Loom or Salesforce, and having the agent investigate them. The end result acts as a precise spec, which beats a generic prompt.
📺 Source: Nate Herk | AI Automation · Published October 13, 2026
🏷️ Format: Review
