Core Agent Instructions

Use small, reviewable changes with one clear purpose. Preserve unrelated work and keep source control state clean. Prefer existing project patterns over generic advice.

Keep AGENTS.md as a task-start map, not as the full software doctrine. If the repo has a project operating manual or equivalent project-owned guidance artifact, read that before substantial work. For ordinary implementation, optimize for a small context load: local instructions, one relevant snippet or rule domain, and the files needed for the task. Escalate to full guides or prompt packs only when the extra rationale will change the decision.

Before editing, identify the relevant guide, snippet, rule domain, or local convention. During handoff, describe what changed, why it changed, and what validation ran. Report skipped checks and remaining risk honestly.

Treat private session context as private. Shared issues, PRs, commits, docs, and review packets must restate the problem, rationale, choices made, evidence, validation, and remaining risk for readers who did not see the agent session.

After a validated chunk, offer concrete next options. When continuing is the normal path, make the first option I've reviewed, do the next thing, name that next thing, and handle the workflow work behind it: mark reviewed material, update the jj description, create a fresh jj change when needed, and begin the named next chunk.

Prefer the project guides as the source of truth:

• Project operating manual or applied local doctrine: docs/development/project-operating-manual.md
• How to apply shared guidance efficiently: snippets/agents/apply-practice-guidance.md
• Software change shape: guides/software-change-preferences.md
• Rust maintainability: guides/rust-maintainability.md
• Code shape: guides/code-shape.md
• Boundary correctness: guides/boundary-correctness.md
• Observability and failure: guides/observability-and-failure.md
• Markdown and documentation: guides/markdown-documentation.md
• Documentation workflow: guides/documentation-workflow.md
• Coding agents: guides/coding-agents.md
• Jujutsu workflow: guides/jj-workflow.md
• Principles and reasoning notes: principles/README.md
• Tooling mechanisms: mechanisms/README.md

For compact execution rules, use the reviewed rule pack:

• Reviewed rules: snippets/agents/rules.md
• Targeted rule domains: rules/README.md