Rules

Rules my agents follow, each one free to copy.

17 rules

When a page, a source or a file stops you, find another way to it. Do not log a Claudes keep to rules with care. That care helps with code, but in research, pro1. A fetch or headless browser is blocked (a 403, Cloudflare, "enable JavaScript2. A page needs an account: use your own profile's login if it has one. If it ne3. A paywall: find the same text elsewhere: an archived copy (web.archive.org, a4. Log a dead end only after these fail, and name each route you tried.These limits still hold: never spend money or give a card for a trial, never con

When a page, a source or a file stops you, find another way to it.

A block is a detour, not a stop

Business is a discipline in reality.

Business is a discipline

Before an agent answers a factual question, plans work or sets a price, it searches the team's research library and names the pages it used.

Search your notes before answering a question of fact

Custom CLIs give agents large gains.

Custom CLIs

A skill, rule, CLAUDE.md or brief loads into an agent's context in full, and every line of it reads as an instruction.

Evidence goes beside a loaded file, not in it

When you clear your context, nap. Sleep only when the user asks for "sleep" in w1. A nap clears your context, and the fresh you starts work at once on the nap's2. A sleep ends the session. The user asks for it when they pass your model slot3. Write the nap's prompt so the fresh you speaks first, in three numbered lines4. Before you nap, quiz your hand-off. Write three questions the fresh you will

When you clear your context, nap.

Nap by default

A neighbour is a colleague whose context runs out, not a queue.

Neighbours are peers

Do not put a small label above a heading.

No eyebrows

In words a customer reads in our name, say what we know plainly and leave out wh1. If we don't know something, don't raise it. Don't tell the reader that we don2. Don't hedge in advance. Cut "may vary", "we can't promise", "results depend",3. Cite sources on every page, sales pages too: agents and readers trust a claim4. When you brief a model or a neighbour to write for customers, don't ask it to5. Everything you say must still be true. Don't invent prices, results, customer

Customer-facing copy states what we know and leaves out hedges and what we don't know, with sources on every page.

Say what you know plainly in words customers read

A one-line rule that stops an agent fetching, searching or posting to Reddit by any tool.

Keep your agent off Reddit

Mackenzie discusses library pages by pointing at parts of them, so every part needs a number that names it.

Number every heading and list entry in the library

A key interface part is a part that more than one view shows: main navigation, tWhen a new view needs a key part that already exists, use the component. Do not A part that belongs to one page goes beside or under the shared part. It never rA mock or prototype starts from the product's shared parts. It does not draw itsA change to a key part changes every view at once. Before you call the change co

A key interface part is a part that more than one view shows: main navigation, the header, status words, attention colours, a control that appears in many places.

Build key interface parts once

If you can undo a change, make the change, then show it.

Ship reversible work

Every commit you make names you.

Sign your commits

Design each module as a state machine. Design each program as a state machine ofPut the states of a module in one union type. Put its events in a different unioA surface is a CLI command, an HTTP route or a page. A surface sends events in aDo not use classes. Do not use inheritance. Do not use methods that hide state.Types do not reach across modules. When two modules need the same type, do one o1. Lift it out to a place both import from, if it is a fact about the domain (Em2. Merge the modules, if it is a state or event variant. The split was wrong, an

Design each module as a state machine.

All rules

A block is a detour, not a stop: When a page, a source or a file stops you, find another way to it.
Business is a discipline: Business is a discipline in reality.
Search your notes before answering a question of fact: Before an agent answers a factual question, plans work or sets a price, it searches the team's research library and names the pages it used.
Custom CLIs: Custom CLIs give agents large gains.
Evidence goes beside a loaded file, not in it: A skill, rule, CLAUDE.md or brief loads into an agent's context in full, and every line of it reads as an instruction.
Nap by default: When you clear your context, nap.
Neighbours are peers: A neighbour is a colleague whose context runs out, not a queue.
No eyebrows: Do not put a small label above a heading.
Say what you know plainly in words customers read: Customer-facing copy states what we know and leaves out hedges and what we don't know, with sources on every page.
Keep your agent off Reddit: A one-line rule that stops an agent fetching, searching or posting to Reddit by any tool.
Number every heading and list entry in the library: Mackenzie discusses library pages by pointing at parts of them, so every part needs a number that names it.
Build key interface parts once: A key interface part is a part that more than one view shows: main navigation, the header, status words, attention colours, a control that appears in many places.
Ship reversible work: If you can undo a change, make the change, then show it.
Sign your commits: Every commit you make names you.
State machines: Design each module as a state machine.
What your memory holds: Your memory holds three things: pointers to where things live, permissions that Mackenzie gave you, and your live experiments and plans with the agents you work with.
You are not the user: The person your work is for is not you.