Script and docs quality

15. Markdown compatibility (CRITICAL)

• ASCII-first: No Unicode emoji, box-drawing, or arrow symbols in markdown. Use [OK], [FAIL], [WARNING], [YES], [NO]; use -> not arrow; use * or - for bullets.
• No EM dash: Do not use the EM dash character (—, U+2014) in any user-facing text. Use a space and hyphen ( - ) or a plain hyphen instead.
• Encoding: UTF-8; prefer pure ASCII. Verify in markdown preview before committing.

16. Script generation quality (all languages)

• Comments: Header with purpose, usage, parameters; document each function; descriptive names.
• Error handling: Try-catch (or equivalent); validate inputs; check prerequisites; no silent failures.
• STDOUT: All scripts output to console; pipeable; STDOUT for normal, STDERR for errors.
• Structure: Break into functions; clear error messages with source/trace; actionable guidance.
• Bash: set -euo pipefail, trap for cleanup. Python: type hints, docstrings, context managers. PowerShell: try/catch/finally, Write-* cmdlets.

17. External input hardening (mandatory)

• Treat every external input as hostile: CLI arguments, filesystem content, network payloads, copied text, imported archives.
• Sanitize untrusted strings before parsing and before printing: strip control characters, normalize whitespace, enforce max length.
• Validate type, schema, and allowed ranges before use; reject invalid values with clear error text.
• Exception handling must be explicit and actionable: print source, exception type, and message to STDERR; return non-zero exit when task cannot continue.
• Never swallow errors (except: pass, silent || true on critical operations). Partial-failure mode is allowed only when warnings are emitted and processing decisions are explicit.

7. File creation discipline

• Before creating any file: verify it belongs; minimal approach; "Is this essential?" Consolidate rather than duplicate.

2. Documentation discipline

• _localsetup/docs/ is ONLY for framework documentation. Not for IDE setup or external tool guides. All docs must have status (ACTIVE/PROPOSAL/DRAFT/DEPRECATED/ARCHIVED). Check status before assuming a feature is implemented. See DOCUMENT_LIFECYCLE_MANAGEMENT.md.
• Platform default for any generated docs/output: Use rich markdown (code blocks, lists, typography, links for in-repo refs, glyphs where they help), humanized prose. See OUTPUT_AND_DOC_GENERATION.md.