gains default AGENTS.md

AGENTS.md

@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+# RMI AI Agent Instructions
+
+## Operating Principles
+
+* Prefer clarity over flexibility.
+* Prefer simple interfaces over powerful interfaces.
+* Prefer root-cause fixes over symptom-level fixes.
+* Preserve existing behavior unless the task explicitly requires changing it.
+* Minimize exposure of implementation details.
+* Prefer small, safe, reversible changes.
+* Read existing code, architecture, and conventions before making changes.
+* Verify assumptions against the codebase rather than inferring them.
+* Understand the problem before proposing solutions.
+* When uncertain, state the uncertainty and choose the least risky path.
+* Favor maintainability and clarity over short-term cleverness.
+* Favor sensible defaults over requiring configuration.
+
+
+## Working Style
+
+Before significant changes:
+
+1. Understand the existing implementation.
+2. Restate the task as a verifiable success criterion (what would prove this is done).
+3. Explain the proposed approach.
+4. Identify meaningful tradeoffs.
+5. Ask clarifying questions when requirements are ambiguous.
+6. Push back when there is a simpler, safer, more maintainable, or more user-friendly solution.
+7. Do not begin implementation when important product or technical decisions remain unresolved.
+
+## AI-Agent Guardrails
+
+* Do not make unrelated changes.
+* Do not perform broad refactors unless requested.
+* Do not replace working implementations with speculative rewrites.
+* Do not create new abstractions until there explicit instruction.
+* Do not introduce new architecture unless explicitly justified.
+* Do not modify formatting in unrelated files.
+
+## Code Quality
+
+* Prefer boring, readable code over clever code.
+* Keep changes minimal and cohesive.
+* Use descriptive names.
+* Handle errors explicitly.
+* Do not silently ignore errors, exceptions, or failed promises.
+* Remove any dead code that your change orphaned. Do not delete pre-existing dead code, surface it in the summary instead.
+* Follow existing project patterns unless there is a compelling reason not to.
+* Optimize for future maintainers reading the code.
+
+For new files or files touched during implementation:
+
+* Run available linters and formatters before committing.
+* Resolve warnings that are directly related to the change.
+* Do not ignore failing checks without explanation.
+
+## Dependency Policy
+
+Before adding or upgrading a dependency:
+
+1. Ask before updating or adding a new dependency.
+2. Check whether it is actively maintained.
+3. Prefer mature, widely adopted, well-documented libraries.
+4. Use the latest stable version unless compatibility requires otherwise.
+5. Avoid deprecated, abandoned, or niche packages.
+6. Check project runtime, framework, lockfile, and package manager compatibility.
+7. Explain dependency choices briefly.
+8.Do not introduce a dependency when the standard library or an existing dependency is sufficient.```
+
+## Testing
+
+* Test changes proportionally to their risk.
+* Prefer existing test patterns and frameworks.
+* Add tests when introducing new behavior or fixing bugs where practical.
+* Do not claim something works without verification.
+
+## Git Workflow
+
+* Do not commit unless explicitly asked.
+* Before major edits, summarize the intended approach and affected files.
+* After changes, provide a concise summary of what changed and why.
+* Never rewrite history, push, or delete branches unless explicitly instructed.
+
+## Security
+
+* Never expose secrets or credentials.
+* Treat `.env*`, tokens, keys, and production configuration as sensitive.
+* Validate external inputs.
+* Prefer parameterized queries and framework-native escaping.
+* Call out security-sensitive changes explicitly.
+
+## User Experience
+
+* Prefer user-facing clarity and reduce cognitive load where possible.
+* Use plain language rather than technical jargon.
+* Favor interfaces that are easy for first-time users to understand.
+* Explain technical concepts in terms of user goals and outcomes.
+* Help users understand what to do next without requiring documentation.
+* Optimize for first-time users.
+* When technical concepts must be exposed, explain them in user-focused language.
+* Prefer progressive disclosure: show only what most users need and reveal advanced details on demand.
+* Use sensible, discoverable defaults; reveal advanced configuration only when needed.
+
+## Currentness
+
+For packages, APIs, frameworks, cloud services, security topics, and operational procedures:
+
+* Verify current documentation rather than relying solely on memory.
+* Prefer official documentation, release notes, maintainers, and primary sources.

README.md

@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 
 This repository holds RMI's organization-wide GitHub community health defaults. Files here apply to every repository in the org that doesn't provide it's own.
 
+## What Lives Here
+
+- `AGENTS.md`: default instructions for AI coding agents.
+
 ## How This Repo Relates to `practices`
 
 - `practices`[https://github.com/RMI/practices] is the source of truth for guidance: the "why" and "how" behind our engineering standards.