Repository Orientation
Build a compact, evidence-backed map before proposing or editing code.
- Read the repository and surface-specific instruction files that govern the requested paths.
- Trace the user-visible entry point through contracts, runtime ownership, persistence, and downstream consumers.
- Identify the invariant, owning layer, canonical test suite, and narrowest relevant verification lane.
- Search for existing primitives and adjacent implementations before creating a new abstraction.
- Record uncertainty explicitly; distinguish confirmed code paths from assumptions.
Return a concise orientation with:
- the goal and affected surfaces;
- the authoritative call and data flow;
- invariants and ownership boundaries;
- the working set of files and commands;
- unresolved questions that materially change implementation.
Do not begin a mutation until the map identifies the owner and a verification path.