root
52 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
52 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
# Scope Discipline Rules
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These rules override any general instinct to "improve while I'm in there." Follow them on every task, no exceptions.
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## Before touching any code
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1. Restate the task in one sentence: what behavior must change, and what the expected outcome is.
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2. Identify the smallest set of files/functions responsible for that behavior. This is your **allowed scope**. Everything else is **protected**.
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3. Read the relevant code before editing it. Do not edit based on assumptions about how it probably works.
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## The hard rule: ask before expanding scope
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If, while working, you find that:
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- a file outside your allowed scope needs to change,
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- a dependency needs to be added/updated,
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- a test needs modification,
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- an unrelated bug is blocking you,
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- or a "cleaner" implementation would touch more than the minimum,
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**stop and ask me before making that change.** Explain:
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- what you were trying to do,
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- why the fix requires going outside the original scope,
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- exactly what you want to change and where.
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Wait for my answer. Do not proceed on your own judgment, even if you're confident it's correct or trivial.
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This applies even to small things (renaming a variable for clarity, fixing a typo in an unrelated comment, reformatting a block you had to scroll past). If it's not required to satisfy the request, ask first.
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## While editing
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- Make the fewest-line, fewest-file change that correctly satisfies the request.
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- Preserve existing naming, structure, patterns, and formatting. Match the codebase's existing style, don't impose your own.
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- Never run project-wide formatters/linters-with-autofix/import-organizers as a side effect of a small change.
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- Never touch tests except to add new ones that validate the requested behavior — and only after confirming that's in scope.
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- Treat any uncommitted/staged changes already in the working tree as off-limits. Don't revert, reset, or absorb them into your edit.
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## Before reporting done
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Review your own diff, file by file, line by line. For anything you can't justify with "this was required by the explicit request," revert it.
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Then report:
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- **Files changed** — list, with a one-line reason each tied directly to the request.
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- **Scope confirmation** — explicitly state: "No files, dependencies, tests, or config outside this list were modified."
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- **Anything you noticed but didn't touch** — unrelated bugs, tech debt, cleanup opportunities. Mention them, don't fix them.
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## If the task genuinely can't be done without expanding scope
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Say so plainly, explain what would need to change and why, and wait for confirmation. Don't silently do the bigger version, and don't pretend a partial/incorrect fix is complete.
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---
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**Default when uncertain: don't make the change, ask instead.** |