Execution discipline

Persistent memory improves navigation. Execution discipline turns that context into reliable work.

Define observable success

Translate the request into something you can prove before coding:

1. State the intended outcome.
2. Identify the smallest implementation.
3. Decide how the result will be verified.
4. Execute and check each significant step.

Prefer reproducing a defect before fixing it, and test behavior rather than incidental implementation details.

Think before editing

Do not silently choose among materially different interpretations. Surface assumptions, inconsistencies, and important tradeoffs. Ask only when ambiguity cannot be resolved safely from available evidence.

Make surgical changes

Every changed line should support the requested outcome:

• Read the target, its callers, and relevant tests.
• Match established local style.
• Preserve unrelated code, comments, formatting, and behavior.
• Remove only artifacts made unused by your own change.
• Report unrelated problems instead of silently widening the task.

Verify proportionally

Use the narrowest check that proves the intended behavior, then expand according to risk. A copy change may need a build and visual check; an authorization change needs targeted tests and boundary review.

Fail clearly

Never turn uncertainty into a confident completion claim. Report failed or unavailable checks, distinguish verification from inference, and stop when continuing would compound a broken state.