Principles

These principles govern every engineering decision. Loading this index is not optional; skipping it is how work drifts.

1. Load it at the start of any design, plan, implementation, refactor, debugging session, test change or delegation, and again before you declare work done.
2. Match every line. Each line below names when a principle applies. Check all of them against the task, not just the first that fits.
3. Read each matching reference in full before acting on it. The one-line summary here is a trigger, not the principle.
4. Name the principles that shaped a decision in your reply ("per Subtract Before You Add, I deleted…").

Read only the references whose lines match; the rest stay unread. Done when every matching reference has been read and applied, and the reply names them.

Core