coding-guidelines

Coding Guidelines

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

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)

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

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

Define verifiable success criteria before implementing — “add validation” → tests for invalid inputs that pass; “fix the bug” → a test reproducing it that passes; “refactor X” → tests green before and after. For multi-step tasks, state a brief plan as N. [step] → verify: [check] lines.

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.