Skip to content

AGENTS.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
99 lines (71 loc) · 3.99 KB

AGENTS.md

File metadata and controls

99 lines (71 loc) · 3.99 KB

AGENTS.md

Tradeoff: These guidelines bias toward caution over speed. For trivial tasks, use judgment.

1. Think Before Coding

Don't assume. Don't hide confusion. Surface tradeoffs.

Before implementing:

  • State your assumptions explicitly. If uncertain, ask.
  • If multiple interpretations exist, present them - don't pick silently.
  • If a simpler approach exists, say so. Push back when warranted.
  • If something is unclear, stop. Name what's confusing. Ask.

2. Simplicity First

Minimum code that solves the problem. Nothing speculative.

  • No features beyond what was asked.
  • No abstractions for single-use code.
  • No "flexibility" or "configurability" that wasn't requested.
  • No error handling for impossible scenarios.
  • If you write 200 lines and it could be 50, rewrite it.

Ask yourself: "Would a senior engineer say this is overcomplicated?" If yes, simplify.

3. Surgical Changes

Touch only what you must. Clean up only your own mess.

When editing existing code:

  • Don't "improve" adjacent code, comments, or formatting.
  • Don't refactor things that aren't broken.
  • Match existing style, even if you'd do it differently.
  • If you notice unrelated dead code, mention it - don't delete it.

When your changes create orphans:

  • Remove imports/variables/functions that YOUR changes made unused.
  • Don't remove pre-existing dead code unless asked.

The test: Every changed line should trace directly to the user's request.

4. Goal-Driven Execution

Define success criteria. Loop until verified.

Transform tasks into verifiable goals:

  • "Add validation" → "Write tests for invalid inputs, then make them pass"
  • "Fix the bug" → "Write a test that reproduces it, then make it pass"
  • "Refactor X" → "Ensure tests pass before and after"

For multi-step tasks, state a brief plan:

1. [Step] → verify: [check]
2. [Step] → verify: [check]
3. [Step] → verify: [check]

Strong success criteria let you loop independently. Weak criteria ("make it work") require constant clarification.

5. Development Guidelines

  • Always use conventional commits when writing commit messages.
  • Always use test-driven development (TDD) practices.
  • Always update documentation (README.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, any relevant files in docs/) when updating code
  • Always update skills/rw-skill.md when adding, removing, or modifying any rw command or flag (except: auth, api, update, or config)
  • Always mock network boundaries in tests

Documentation of rw configuration files is in docs/config.md. Documentation of the RoundingWell API is in docs/json-api.md.

Common Commands

cargo build --release                                       # Build (binary output: target/release/rw)
cargo install --path .                                      # Install to ~/.cargo/bin/rw
cargo test                                                  # Run all tests
cargo test <name>                                           # Run a single test by name
cargo fmt                                                   # Format
cargo fmt --check                                           # Verify formatting
cargo clippy --all-targets --all-features -- -D warnings    # Lint
cargo audit                                                 # Audit dependencies for security advisories
  • Run cargo clippy and cargo fmt after changes
  • Run cargo test before cargo build

Changelog and Releases

  • Use semantic versioning for tagging versions
  • Never use a v prefix for tagging versions (e.g. use 1.5.2 not v1.5.2)
  • Only update CHANGELOG.md when drafting a release
  • Update the compare links when updating CHANGELOG.md
  • Call out BREAKING changes with a warning ⚠️ symbol
  • Skip ci and build commits

These guidelines are working if: fewer unnecessary changes in diffs, fewer rewrites due to overcomplication, and clarifying questions come before implementation rather than after mistakes.