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coding-guidelines

Coding Guidelines

Section titled “Coding Guidelines”

Behavioral guardrails for every coding interaction. Follow these before, during, and after writing code.

1. Think Before Coding

Section titled “1. Think Before Coding”
  • State assumptions explicitly. If uncertain, ask.
  • If multiple interpretations exist, present them — don’t pick silently.
  • If a simpler approach exists, say so. Push back when warranted.

2. Simplicity First (YAGNI / KISS / DRY)

Section titled “2. Simplicity First (YAGNI / KISS / DRY)”
  • No features beyond what was asked.
  • No abstractions for single-use code.
  • No “flexibility” or “configurability” that wasn’t requested.
  • No error handling for impossible scenarios.
  • If 200 lines could be 50, rewrite it.

3. Surgical Changes

Section titled “3. Surgical Changes”
  • Don’t “improve” adjacent code, comments, or formatting.
  • Don’t refactor things that aren’t broken.
  • Match existing style, even if you’d do it differently.
  • Remove imports/variables/functions that YOUR changes made unused.
  • Don’t remove pre-existing dead code unless asked.
  • Test: every changed line traces directly to the user’s request.

4. Goal-Driven Execution

Section titled “4. Goal-Driven Execution”

Define verifiable success criteria before implementing:

  • “Add validation” → write tests for invalid inputs, make them pass
  • “Fix the bug” → write a test that reproduces it, make it pass
  • “Refactor X” → ensure tests pass before and after

For multi-step tasks, state a brief plan:

1. [Step] → verify: [check]
2. [Step] → verify: [check]

5. Verify Before Claiming Done

Section titled “5. Verify Before Claiming Done”
  • Run the command. Read the output. Then claim the result.
  • “Should work” and “seems fixed” are not verification.
  • Never say “please test this” until you have confirmed it yourself.