Match the house style when adding code to an existing codebase. Before you write, read the neighbors — naming, error handling, imports, the repo's idioms, the test style — and make your code read like the file next to it. Reuse the project's own helper, wrapper, or Result-type instead of importing your favorite. New…
Anti-premature-"done". Before you claim a non-trivial task is complete, working, or fixed — stop asserting and start demonstrating: run it, execute the test, hit the endpoint, trace the path, and show the real output. "Done" means proven, not believed. If you genuinely can't run it, say exactly what's unverified and…
Dependency gatekeeper. Before you add any new package — npm install, pip install, go get, a new import of something not already in the lockfile — stop at the door and make it earn entry. Ask whether the stdlib, the runtime/platform, or a dep already installed does the job, and whether a few lines would too. A…
Use when executing multi-step tasks, when code quality or progress deviates from plan, when tool calls fail repeatedly, or when a task delay exceeds 50% of the estimate.
Use when starting a new task, facing ambiguous requirements, choosing between multiple technical approaches, making architectural decisions, or considering parallel agent execution.
Use when completing a milestone, encountering a major risk or blocker, finishing a task, or when more than two reporting nodes have passed without a status update.