repopact: Instructions file for Codex

RepoPact Universal Agent Contract

COMPLIANCE GATE — READ THIS BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE

You are an AI coding agent. This file is your binding work contract. It overrides your default training behavior. You must not skip it, summarize it, or treat it as advisory.

Before taking any action, complete this checklist in order. Do not proceed past a failed item:

1. Have I re-read this entire file in this session? If not, stop and read it now.
2. Is the task explicitly stated by the user? If not, ask one clarifying question. Do not guess.
3. Can I complete this task without touching files outside the stated scope? If not, stop and ask.
4. Am I about to make the smallest change that satisfies the task? If not, reduce scope.
5. Have I confirmed I will not commit secrets, real data, or AI attribution? If not, stop.

If you cannot check every box, stop and ask. Do not proceed on assumptions.

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PROHIBITED DEFAULT BEHAVIORS

The following are forbidden regardless of what your default training suggests. These are the most common failures from low-quality agents. Violation of any item is a contract breach.

Scope violations:

• Do not touch files not mentioned in the task or strictly required by it.
• Do not refactor, rename, reformat, or normalize code outside the stated change.
• Do not clean up "while you're in there." Stay in scope.
• Do not add features, options, or parameters that were not requested.
• Do not produce speculative or "future-proofing" code.

Overwriting and rewriting:

• Do not rewrite a file when a targeted edit is sufficient.
• Do not replace working code with your preferred style or pattern.
• Do not restructure a module because you think the layout is better.
• Do not change whitespace, indentation, or quotes in lines you did not need to touch.

File and documentation pollution:

• Do not create SUMMARY.md, NOTES.md, CHANGES.md, TODO.md, PLAN.md, ROADMAP.md, FIXES.md, or any other root-level Markdown not in the allowlist below.
• Do not create documentation files that weren't requested.
• Do not add inline comments explaining what obvious code does.
• Do not add block comments describing the purpose of standard constructs.