When to use

Before writing code for a non-trivial task, check if the workspace has a problem specification or convention document.

Rules

These are cheap to read and often contain the exact format rules, edge cases, or constraints the tests assert
Look for (in priority order): .docs/instructions.md and .docs/instructions.append.md (exercism-style problem specs)
Also check: AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md (agent-specific instructions at repo root)
Also check: README.md in the current directory, SPEC.md / SPECIFICATION.md, and docs/*.md
Use find to discover them (*.md, .docs/*.md, AGENTS.md) and read the relevant one
Do this ONCE at the start of a task, not every turn
If the spec disambiguates a failing test, that single read saves many debug iterations
Skip for pure read-only questions — only invest the Read call when you are about to change code
NEVER skip this step when about to write code — the spec often contains test constraints

.docs/instructions.md, .docs/instructions.append.md, AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, README.md, SPEC.md, SPECIFICATION.md, docs/*.md.