documentation_rules

Documentation rules for writing clear files with as little repeated text as possible.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use them when creating or editing documentation, especially when deciding what to omit, combine, or reference elsewhere.
Why use it?
They reduce the amount of project context an agent must read and help prevent conflicting copies of the same information.

Cursor rule for Cursor

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/markmhendrickson/foundation/documentation_rules
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/markmhendrickson/foundation

Made for: Cursor.

Per session 20 Only the description is in the session, so the agent can decide to use it. The body loads when it is invoked.
When invoked 1,151 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
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 $0.00020 $0.01151
Opus 5 $0.00010 $0.00575
Sonnet 5 $0.00004 $0.00230
Haiku 4.5 $0.00002 $0.00115

Measured yesterday against content hash f29fe31b55a6, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

documentation_rules 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 yesterday.

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.

.cursor/rules/documentation_rules.mdc · 167 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 167 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Documentation Rules

Rules for creating and maintaining documentation files to minimize context window usage while maintaining clarity.

Core Principles

Minimize context usage: Every word, section, and file consumes context. Remove anything that doesn't directly serve the reader's immediate need.

Single source of truth: Each concept, rule, or process documented once. Reference, don't duplicate.

Concise language: Use the shortest clear phrasing. Prefer direct statements over explanations.

Content Rules

Avoid Redundancy

Within files:

  • Don't repeat the same rule in multiple sections
  • Don't restate the title in the first paragraph
  • Don't summarize what you're about to say before saying it

Between files:

  • Don't duplicate rules across multiple files
  • Reference other files instead of copying content
  • If overlap exists, consolidate into one file and reference it

Examples:

  • Bad: "This document defines requirements. The requirements are defined below."
  • Good: "Requirements:"

Remove Unnecessary Elements

Don't include:

  • "Related Documentation" sections (use file structure and naming for discovery)
  • Meta properties (Status, Last Updated, Related) in file headers
  • Separator lines (---) unless grouping distinct sections
  • Empty lines between every section (use sparingly)
  • Introductory paragraphs that restate the title
  • "Purpose" sections that repeat the filename
  • Closing summaries that restate what was said

Do include:

  • Direct statements of rules or requirements
  • Essential context only
  • Examples when they clarify ambiguity

Language Conciseness

Use:

  • Direct commands: "Do X" not "Agents should do X" or "It is recommended that agents do X"
  • Short phrases: "Required" not "This is a mandatory requirement"
  • Active voice: "Create file" not "File should be created"
  • Lists over paragraphs when possible
  • Specific terms over general ones

Avoid:

  • Hedging language: "should", "may", "consider" (use "must" or "do not")
  • Filler phrases: "in order to", "for the purpose of", "it is important to note"
  • Redundant qualifiers: "very important", "absolutely required"
  • Explanatory preambles: "The reason for this is..." (state the rule, not why it exists unless critical)

Read the full file on GitHub · 167 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. yesterday First seen · 167 lines · 20 tokens per session scan A f29fe31b55a6

Subscribe to this mod's changes

documentation_rules is a cursor rule published in the GitHub repository markmhendrickson/foundation (2 stars, last pushed 1mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 20 tokens to every session and 1,151 once invoked, about $0.0001 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.