Project Rules First
Purpose
Ensure project-specific rules are read before meaningful action.
When to Use
Use at task startup, before editing files, running commands, or adapting skills.
Inputs
Project rule files such as AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, README, docs index, and local skill indexes.
Steps
- Locate project entry rules.
- Extract mandatory constraints.
- Apply only relevant rules to the current task.
- Record blockers when rules cannot be found.
Gates
Project rules are either applied or explicitly marked missing.
Evidence
Task outputs follow repository naming, safety, testing, and review constraints.
Anti-Patterns
Starting from memory; treating another repository's AGENTS.md as universal.
Related
authority-chain, stale-baseline-guard