Code quality

Build the smallest clear solution that fully satisfies the approved behavior. Understand the system before shortening it. Repository contracts and explicit user decisions take precedence over generic style preferences.

Establish the scope

• Use the user-named scope. Otherwise use the current task's changed files or branch diff. If neither exists, ask for scope rather than auditing the repo.
• Infer the mode: implementation, bug fix, simplification, or review. A review request authorizes findings, not edits. Simplification preserves required behavior; an approved behavior change implements the intended end state.
• Preserve unrelated work. Read applicable guidance, relevant call paths, tests, and history only where they resolve a concrete uncertainty.
• Establish required behavior, failure handling, domain rules, and verification before editing. Do not turn a clear task into a planning ceremony.

Find the owner before adding code