agentic-tech-debt: Instructions file for Claude Code

CLAUDE.md

agentic-tech-debt CLAUDE.md is an instructions file for Claude Code from bcanfield/agentic-tech-debt. It costs 3,298 tokens per session, scanned B, original, MIT.

Project rules for a codebase that studies and maintains integrations—adapters that connect one system to another—for AI coding tools. They cover scope control, keeping adapters consistent, using current documentation, and recording research findings.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use them when changing an adapter, reviewing differences between integrations, consulting library documentation, or deciding whether a proposed refactor belongs in the task.
Why use it?
They help agents make focused changes without unnecessary cleanup or guessed behavior. They also explain that some duplicated files are intentional and must remain synchronized.

Instructions file for Claude Code

Written for Claude Code: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT} variable. Also seen: reads .claude/ paths; mentions .claude-plugin; mentions CLAUDE.md.

This is bcanfield/agentic-tech-debt's own configuration. It tells Claude Code how to work on agentic-tech-debt itself, so it is not a mod to install elsewhere. Copy it as a starting point and replace the rules that are about this project. Everything agentic-tech-debt configures →

Runs only inside a plugin — its command needs a path that Claude Code sets for a plugin’s own hooks and for nothing else, and the catalogue could not identify which plugin ships it.

Reuse

Borrowing it

Nothing to install: this file belongs to bcanfield/agentic-tech-debt. Take a copy, put it at the same path in your own repository, and replace the rules that are about this project with yours.

Copy the file
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bcanfield/agentic-tech-debt/main/CLAUDE.md
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/bcanfield/agentic-tech-debt

Made for: Claude Code.

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Per session 3,298 This file is loaded in full into every session.
When invoked 3,298 The same file — it is already loaded in full.
Security scan B 2 findings. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.03298 $0.03298
Opus 5.5 $0.01319 $0.01319
Sonnet 5.5 $0.00660 $0.00660
Haiku 4.5 $0.00330 $0.00330

Measured 1mo ago against content hash 76706fa5a0ff, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-10-07, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade B, and why

agentic-tech-debt CLAUDE.md scanned grade B with 2 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 1mo ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Reads agent configuration directoriesmediumAgent snooping

.claude/, .codex/, .gemini/ hold keys, settings and other credentials a mod has no legitimate need for.

- **Claude Code:** `tail -f ~/.claude/plugins/data/debt-ops-agentic-tech-debt/cache/<repo-hash>/debug.log`

Runs shell commandslowCapability

Expected in a hook, worth knowing in a rule or an instructions file.

- **Python over Bash for plugin scripts.** Stdlib `json`, `re`, and `subprocess.run(..., timeout=...)` beat hand-rolled JSON escaping, a `jq` dependency, and the BSD/GNU `timeout` portability dance. And run on Windows wi
CLAUDE.md · 151 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 151 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Project Rules

  • Stay in scope. Do exactly what was asked. No drive-by refactors or "while I'm here" cleanups. Flag them and wait for confirmation.
  • Don't over-engineer. Simplest thing that works. No speculative abstractions, defensive code for impossible cases, or new dependencies without a concrete reason.
  • Use current docs. For any library, framework, or API, fetch docs via the context7 MCP server before answering. Even for things you "know." Match the version in this project, not the latest release. Also - try to fetch examples from github frequently (e.g. an Anthropic-published Claude Code plugin, or an OpenAI Codex plugin, to use as an example).
  • Confront our research. Try to see if you can ground decisions in our extensive research.
  • Ask when unsure. One focused question beats guessing or expanding scope.
  • Be refreshingly concise. Nobody likes overly wordy AI slop. Speak and comment like a co-worker.
  • Guide the agent with markdown, not orchestration. Claude Code and Codex are smart and have the keys to the user's repo. Skills should load research-backed principles and trust the agent's judgment, not script its every step. Reach for Python only when determinism demands it (timestamps, audits, atomic file ops, hook contracts), never to make decisions a smart agent reading the repo can make better.
  • Python over Bash for plugin scripts. Stdlib json, re, and subprocess.run(..., timeout=...) beat hand-rolled JSON escaping, a jq dependency, and the BSD/GNU timeout portability dance. And run on Windows without WSL.
  • Conventional commits. All four adapters' plugin versions auto-bump in lockstep via release-please (config in .github/; mirrors claude-code/.claude-plugin/plugin.json, codex/.codex-plugin/plugin.json, copilot/plugin.json, and cursor/.cursor-plugin/plugin.json); use feat: / fix: / feat!: prefixes. Anything else is ignored by the bumper. Don't hand-edit version in any plugin.json.
  • We like humanlike, concise inline comments For example, a single line above a function or code block very simply and concisely saying what the code is doing so that the code is easy for a human to understand
  • Record decisions as ADRs. When we make a choice with two credible alternatives (a new convention, a tradeoff worth remembering), drop a short note in docs/adr/ using the format in its README.

Read the full file on GitHub · 151 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 1mo ago First seen · 151 lines · 3,298 tokens per session scan B 76706fa5a0ff

Subscribe to this mod's changes

agentic-tech-debt CLAUDE.md is an instructions file published in the GitHub repository bcanfield/agentic-tech-debt (8 stars, last pushed 2d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 3,298 tokens to every session, about $0.0132 per session on Opus 5.5. A static security scan graded it B with 2 findings (reads agent configuration directories, runs shell commands). No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-31.

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