Getting it into your agent
One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.
npx agentmods add rules/arango-solutions/arango-sparql-py/read-before-writegit clone --depth 1 https://github.com/arango-solutions/arango-sparql-pyWhat 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.
| Model | Per session | Once invoked |
|---|---|---|
| Fable 5 | $0.00384 | $0.00384 |
| Opus 5 | $0.00192 | $0.00192 |
| Sonnet 5 | $0.00077 | $0.00077 |
| Haiku 4.5 | $0.00038 | $0.00038 |
Grade A, and why
read-before-write scanned grade A with 0 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 2d 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.
Nothing flagged
None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.
What it actually says
Read Before Write
"Match the codebase, don't fight it."
Before writing ANY code, understand what already exists. The codebase has patterns, conventions, and utilities. Use them, don't reinvent them.
The Reading Protocol
Before implementing anything:
- Pattern Search — How does the codebase already do this?
- Utility Search — Is there a helper for this?
- Existing Implementation — Has someone already solved this?
- Test Pattern Search — How are similar things tested?
What You Must Find Before Writing
| Before Writing | Find First |
|---|---|
| New struct/type | Existing similar types |
| New function | Existing utilities with same behavior |
| New endpoint | Existing endpoint patterns |
| New test | Existing test helpers/patterns |
| New error type | Existing error conventions |
| New config field | Existing config structure |
Pattern Matching Requirements
When you find existing patterns, you MUST:
- Use the same naming conventions
- Use the same file organization
- Use the same error handling style
- Use the same logging approach
- Use existing utilities — don't write
formatTime()ifutils.FormatTime()exists
The Duplication Detector
| Question | If Yes → |
|---|---|
| Does this function already exist? | Use it |
| Does a similar type already exist? | Extend or reuse it |
| Is there a util/helper for this? | Call it |
| Is there an established pattern? | Follow it |
The codebase was here before you. Your job is to make it more consistent, not less.
Read first. Match the patterns. Then write.
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.
- 2d ago First seen · 53 lines · 384 tokens per session scan A 3cafa318b431
read-before-write is a cursor rule published in the GitHub repository arango-solutions/arango-sparql-py (2 stars, last pushed 15d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 384 tokens to every session, about $0.0019 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-31.
Other cursor rules, from other repositories
angular-20
This rule provides comprehensive best practices and coding standards for Angular development, focusing on modern TypeScript, standalone components, signals, and performance optimizations.
dev-standard
Apache Superset development standards and guidelines for Cursor IDE.
cli-error-handling
CLI command error handling patterns.
prefer-direct-imports-over-module-mocks
Prefer extracting a testable core over vi.mock / vi.resetModules when unit tests need to reach production logic entangled with config, env, or singletons.
control-plane-descriptors
Control plane descriptor and instance implementation patterns.
family-instance-domain-actions
Family instance domain action implementation patterns.