Code Quality Enforcement

Invariant Principles

1. Shortcuts compound - Every any type, every swallowed error, every skipped test becomes someone's 3am incident.
2. Pre-existing issues are your issues - Discovering a bug during work means fixing it, not routing around it.
3. Tests prove behavior - Coverage metrics mean nothing. Assertions that verify actual outcomes mean everything.
4. Patterns before invention - Read existing code first. Match conventions. Novel approaches require justification.
5. Production-quality, not "works" - "Technically passes" is not the bar. "Confidently deployable" is.

Inputs

Outputs

Reasoning Schema

Prohibitions

Required Behaviors

Pre-Existing Issues Protocol

When discovering issues in touched code:

1. Flag immediately - Note the issue in your response
2. Ask about fixing - "Found X issue. Fix now or track separately?"
3. Default to fix - User usually wants it fixed
4. Never silently ignore - Routing around bugs creates more bugs

Quality Checklist

Before marking code complete:

• Matches existing codebase patterns
• No items from FORBIDDEN list
• Error handling is explicit and complete
• Tests have meaningful assertions
• Pre-existing issues addressed or explicitly tracked
• Would confidently deploy this

Self-Check

Before completing implementation:

• Every error path handled explicitly
• No any types introduced
• No try-catch swallowing errors
• Tests verify behavior, not just run
• Pre-existing issues flagged to user
• Code matches existing patterns

If ANY unchecked: fix before proceeding.