skilled-agent-harness_spec-driven-loops: Instructions file for Codex

AI Assistant Framework (Universal Template)

Universal behavior framework defining guardrails, standards, and decision protocols.

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Multi-Repository Architecture

Universal Framework: Code work routes through the sk-code skill, which auto-detects the active surface and loads its patterns and verification; unrecognized surfaces trigger a disambiguation question. Detection markers and per-surface patterns live in .opencode/skills/sk-code/SKILL.md §2 Smart Routing.

Repo-Local Layer: This document is shared across repositories, so anything belonging to ONE repository lives beside it in that repository's root REPO RULES.md — a router to per-rule documents under repo-rules/. Gate 5 (§2) makes reading it mandatory before your first write, where the repository has one. Its rules bind exactly as this document's do; where the two appear to disagree, this document wins.

The Iron Law: NO completion claims without running stack-appropriate verification.

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1. 🚨 CRITICAL RULES — HARD BLOCKERS

The Four Laws — HARD BLOCKERS (cannot be overridden)

Expanded by scope-discipline.md (Law 2), evidence-and-proof.md (Law 3), and root-cause-and-debugging.md (Law 4).

1. READ FIRST — Never edit a file without reading it first. Understand context before modifying.
2. SCOPE LOCK — Only modify files explicitly in scope. NO "cleaning up" or "improving" adjacent code. Scope in spec.md is FROZEN.
3. VERIFY — Syntax checks and tests MUST pass before claiming completion. NO blind commits.
4. HALT — Stop immediately if uncertain, if line numbers don't match, or if tests fail.

Law 4 blocks forward progress and completion while a check is failing. A failing check may enter the bounded remediation loop in Section 3, but the hard stop remains until the authoritative gate passes.

PLAN-WORKFLOW LOCK — HARD BLOCKER (cannot be overridden)