clean_code

A set of rules for writing and reviewing code that is clear, consistent, maintainable, and understandable to people.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it when creating or reviewing code to choose meaningful names, replace unexplained numbers, keep functions focused, avoid repetition, and organize code clearly.
Why use it?
It reduces confusion caused by vague names, repeated logic, hidden values, oversized functions, and comments that explain the wrong things.

Cursor rule

Install

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.

agentmods
npx agentmods add rules/chand1012/cursorrules/clean_code
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/chand1012/cursorrules
Per session 28 Only the description is in the session, so the agent can decide to use it. The body loads when it is invoked.
When invoked 366 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin 97% copy Near-identical to another mod 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 $0.00028 $0.00366
Opus 5 $0.00014 $0.00183
Sonnet 5 $0.00006 $0.00073
Haiku 4.5 $0.00003 $0.00037

Measured 2d ago against content hash 4e513d8d2bfb, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

clean_code 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.

Origin

This is a copy

97% identical to clean-code — 5 lines differ, which has more behind it and is treated as the original. This page carries a canonical link to it rather than competing with it.

practice/clean_code.mdc · 56 lines

What it actually says

Clean Code Guidelines

Constants Over Magic Numbers

  • Replace hard-coded values with named constants
  • Use descriptive constant names that explain the value's purpose
  • Keep constants at the top of the file or in a dedicated constants file

Meaningful Names

  • Variables, functions, and classes should reveal their purpose
  • Names should explain why something exists and how it's used
  • Avoid abbreviations unless they're universally understood

Smart Comments

  • Don't comment on what the code does - make the code self-documenting
  • Use comments to explain why something is done a certain way
  • Document APIs, complex algorithms, and non-obvious side effects

Single Responsibility

  • Each function should do exactly one thing
  • Functions should be small and focused
  • If a function needs a comment to explain what it does, it should be split

DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself)

  • Extract repeated code into reusable functions
  • Share common logic through proper abstraction
  • Maintain single sources of truth

Clean Structure

  • Keep related code together
  • Organize code in a logical hierarchy
  • Use consistent file and folder naming conventions

Encapsulation

  • Hide implementation details
  • Expose clear interfaces
  • Move nested conditionals into well-named functions

Code Quality Maintenance

  • Refactor continuously
  • Fix technical debt early
  • Leave code cleaner than you found it

Testing

  • Write tests before fixing bugs
  • Keep tests readable and maintainable
  • Test edge cases and error conditions

Version Control

  • Write clear commit messages
  • Make small, focused commits
  • Use meaningful branch names
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. 2d ago First seen · 56 lines · 28 tokens per session scan A 4e513d8d2bfb

Subscribe to this mod's changes

clean_code is a cursor rule published in the GitHub repository chand1012/cursorrules (13 stars, last pushed 9mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 28 tokens to every session and 366 once invoked, about $0.0001 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. It is 97% identical to clean-code, differing in 5 lines, and is treated as a copy.