# Agent Conduct

> Use when starting a new task or session in this repository and deciding what to load first and in what order (AGENTS, README, manifests, active process/stage definitions, role competencies); when a stage step names an execution role and its competencies need resolving; when deciding whether to ask a clarifying question versus proceed; when a different execution role should run as an isolated sub-agent rather than continuing in the current context; when choosing which capability and provider to reach for (semantic, structural, or text search; knowledge retrieval; execution; context optimization) and in what order; when checking whether another installed plugin already owns a rule before writing a new one; or when deciding how verbose to be, whether to read a whole file versus a ranged slice, or how to point at a large existing artifact instead of re-pasting it. Covers `agent-conduct.md` (the canonical capability model, provider mapping, search strategy, and tool-agnostic contributor behavior rules) and `ai-con

- Skill: `bhangeef16/agent-conduct` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add bhangeef16/agent-conduct`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/bhangeef16/agent-conduct/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: AI & ML
- Author: BhangeeF16 (https://skillmd.com/u/bhangeef16)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/bhangeef16/agent-conduct

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# Agent Conduct

This is a meta-skill: a rule that applies across every stage rather than belonging to one. It covers two documents this workspace's own `governance/README.md` groups together as the AI-contributor-specific rules — `ai-contributor-guide.md` (the canonical owner for context-loading order) and `agent-conduct.md` (the canonical owner for contributor behavior rules) — read live from this plugin's own source files every time this skill runs, so there is no separate paraphrased copy anywhere for either to drift against. This is a distinct concern from the `governance` meta-skill: that one governs whether a *document* is canonically owned and acceptance-ready; this one governs how an *agent* behaves while working in this repository.

## AI contributor guide — context-loading order (live)

!`cat "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/agent-conduct/ai-contributor-guide.md"`

## Agent conduct — behavioral rules (live)

!`cat "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/agent-conduct/agent-conduct.md"`

## Instructions

1. At the start of a task, load context in the order the AI Contributor Guide content above states — do not skip straight to a capability or feature document before the manifests and active process/stage definitions that resolve which one applies.
2. When a stage step names a role, resolve its competencies via the Execution Role Manifest as the guide above directs — execution roles are not product IAM roles and are not a new canonical owner of anything.
3. When blocked on a material decision that cannot be safely resolved from local context, ask a clarifying question through your environment's mechanism rather than guessing — per the Ask Questions section above. If a required output document is expected, record the question and its answer there, not only in conversation.
4. When a different execution role is assigned mid-session (with or without the conductor running the step), instantiate a fresh, isolated sub-agent for that role rather than continuing in the same context, per the Sub-agents Instance Per Role section above — this prevents state leak between roles' distinct permission boundaries.
5. Name the **capability** you need and resolve it through the Capability Model table above — never name a vendor in a persona, skill, or process definition. Climb the Search Strategy ladder in order and stop at the first rung that answers; run build/test/lint/container/version-control commands through the Execution capability.
6. Before writing anything new, apply Compose Before You Build and check Composable Skills above — another installed plugin may already own the rule. Treat every composed skill as optional, and never let one override a stop condition, a required output, or a gate decision.
7. Apply Lazy File Reading, Precision Code Edits, and Terse CLI Commands as your environment's tools allow — ranged reads over files longer than roughly 150 lines, targeted diffs instead of full-file rewrites, and limited-verbosity command output.
8. Point at a generated artifact, journal entry, or state-record path in conversational output instead of re-pasting or re-summarizing its content — per Durable State Pointers above; this applies to state records specifically and, more generally, to any large plan or content that already exists in a file.
9. If you are re-reading this skill after `skills/agent-conduct/ai-contributor-guide.md` or `skills/agent-conduct/agent-conduct.md` changed, trust what you just read above over any memory of a previous run — that live content is always the current source of truth for how an agent should load context and behave in this repository.