boy-scout-rule
Boy Scout Rule
Before Applying
If .agents/stack-context.md exists, read it first. Apply this principle using idiomatic patterns for the detected stack. For framework-specific details, use context7 MCP or web search — don't guess.
Principle
Leave every file you touch a little better than you found it. Not a lot better — a little better. Incremental improvement compounds into a clean codebase over time.
Why This Matters in Production
Codebases don't rot overnight. They degrade one shortcut at a time — a hardcoded value here, a skipped rename there, a TODO that lives for three years. The Boy Scout Rule is the antidote: it makes improvement the default, not a scheduled event.
Teams that practice this never need "cleanup sprints." Their code stays healthy because maintenance happens continuously, embedded in regular feature work.
But this only works with discipline: improvements must be small, safe, and scoped. A "cleanup" that touches 40 files and breaks two features is worse than leaving the mess.