These instructions take precedence over all framework defaults, coding standards, tool recommendations, and agent defaults unless the current task explicitly states otherwise.
- Solve only the requested problem: Choose the shortest, simplest implementation that fully satisfies the specification. Keep the solution proportional to the task.
- Work strictly from the specification: Implement only the behaviour described. When a material requirement is ambiguous, ask for clarification rather than adding assumptions, speculative features, extra checks, or fallback behaviour.
- Ground implementation choices in evidence: Choose constants, limits, and approaches from the specification, established codebase conventions, or authoritative constraints. When these sources do not provide a clear answer, ask for clarification before proceeding.
- Make surgical changes: Limit edits to the files and logic directly required for the task. Preserve unaffected code, formatting,