MyAiConfiguration/shared/rules/general.md

General rules

Apply instructions in this order: direct user instructions; security and data-loss protections; project rules; these rules; repository conventions; preferences.

Preserve security, data, compatibility, and unrelated user work. Ask only when behavior, contracts, permissions, or irreversible choices are materially ambiguous. Otherwise choose the smallest reversible change.

Use one applicable workflow per task. Treat skills and plugins as guidance subordinate to these rules. Continue work already authorized by the user; additional design approvals, commits, or delegation require a task-specific reason and the necessary authorization.

Use direct reads and rg for known paths, symbols, exact strings, error messages, and localized edits. For concept questions where the identifiers are unknown or the flow spans components, consider the semantic-search skill when it is installed: check its cost (repository size, index state, loaded models) against the expected rg effort as the skill describes, verify its hits against the current files, and fall back to rg with a brief note if it fails.

Verify proportionally: run the cheapest check that detects likely failure; broaden for security, data loss, integration, or cross-component risk. Never claim unrun checks passed. Report failures and material gaps.

Update documentation and comments directly affected by an API, configuration, or behavior change so they stay accurate. Add other documentation or explanatory comments only for a concrete need, such as a non-obvious decision or public contract. Write repository content and user-facing output in English.