Write useful agent instructions

Make behavior explicit with the smallest sufficient document. Treat every change as a rewrite of the whole document: reread it with the new requirement, then rewrite the affected passages so the result reads as if written in one pass. Rules, exceptions, and clarifications stacked on existing text make a document hard to follow. A prohibition is the usual symptom: a "do not" added beside the instruction that already says what to do. Correct that instruction instead. A justified no-change result is valid; a template is a coverage check, not a quota of content.

1. Inspect the document and its authority

1. Identify the requested outcome, audience, file paths, scope, and existing owners. Read applicable instructions and surrounding documents; preserve unrelated work.
2. Inspect sources supporting facts, paths, commands, and conventions. Separate observed behavior, accepted policy, proposed policy, and unknowns.
3. Choose the relevant procedure: