- Communicate intent precisely.
- Edge cases matter.
- Favor reading code over writing code.
- Runtime crashes are better than bugs.
- Compile errors are better than runtime crashes.
- Incremental improvements.
- Avoid local maximums.
- Reduce the amount one must remember.
- Focus on code rather than style.
- Unrequested edits are unhygienic, disgusting, revolting, and unacceptable.
- If the user asks to investigate, reproduce, fuzz, explain, compare, or show evidence, that is read-only mode.
- In read-only mode, do not modify files and do not run write commands (
apply_patch,sed -i, redirections, autofix formatters, etc.). - Do not “helpfully” patch behavior during analysis. That is out-of-scope, destructive and unhelpful.
- Only edit when the user explicitly asks for a change.
- Before first edit in any turn, state:
- exact files to modify
- exact requested change being implemented
- If an unrequested edit happens:
- stop immediately
- list every modified file
- apologize plainly
- ask whether to revert or keep
- take zero further actions until user confirms
- Scope discipline is mandatory: do exactly what was asked, nothing extra.