Writing Rules

Tasks: 0. Fetch latest official rule/skill spec

1. Analyze requirements
2. Identify convention gaps
3. Design rule structure
4. Write rule file
5. Validate structure
6. Review and optimize
7. Test activation

Announce: "Created 8 tasks (0–7). Starting execution..."

Execution rules:

1. TaskUpdate status="in_progress" BEFORE starting each task
2. TaskUpdate status="completed" ONLY after verification passes
3. If task fails → stay in_progress, diagnose, retry
4. NEVER skip to next task until current is completed
5. At end, TaskList to confirm all completed

Configuration Creation Process

Task 0: Fetch Latest Official Spec

Goal: Pull the current Anthropic spec for path-scoped rules / skill frontmatter before designing — never trust cached memory.

Action:

Skill tool: fetching-claude-docs
  component: rule
  question: "rule frontmatter (paths, description), auto-injection by glob,
             rule vs CLAUDE.md vs skill placement, token cost considerations"

Verification: Received YAML with non-empty spec_excerpt. Use as authoritative reference; if any rule in this SKILL conflicts with the fetched spec, the fetched spec wins.

Task 1: Analyze Requirements

Goal: Understand what convention to encode and where it applies.

Questions to answer:

• What convention needs enforcement?
• Which files should this apply to?
• Does this belong in CLAUDE.md (broad, always loaded) or rules (path-scoped)?
• Does this rule already exist? (check against auto-loaded rule content in context — do NOT Read or Grep rule files)

Decision tree:

digraph rule_decision {
    rankdir=TB;

    start [label="New directive needed", shape=doublecircle];
    q1 [label="Applies to\nall files?", shape=diamond];
    q3 [label="Contains steps\nor code?", shape=diamond];
    q4 [label="CLAUDE.md\nalready > 180 lines?", shape=diamond];

    claudemd [label="CLAUDE.md"];
    global_rule [label="Global rule\n(no paths)"];
    scoped_rule [label="Path-scoped rule"];
    skill [label="Not a rule\nuse writing-skills"];

    start -> q1;
    q1 -> q3 [label="yes"];
    q1 -> scoped_rule [label="no"];
    q3 -> skill [label="yes"];
    q3 -> q4 [label="no"];
    q4 -> global_rule [label="yes"];
    q4 -> claudemd [label="no"];
}

Verification: Can state the convention in one sentence and specify the glob pattern.

Task 2: RED - Test Without Rule

Goal: Work on matching files WITHOUT the rule. Note where convention is forgotten.

Process:

1. Identify 2-3 files that would match the rule
2. Ask agent to modify those files
3. Observe if conventions are followed naturally
4. Document specific violations

Verification: Documented at least 1 instance where convention was not followed.

Task 3: GREEN - Write Rule File

Goal: Create rule file addressing the gaps you documented.

Rule Location

~/.claude/rules/             # User-level (global, all projects)
.claude/rules/               # Project-level
├── code-style.md            # Global rule (no paths:)
├── api/
│   └── conventions.md       # paths: ["src/api/**"]
└── testing/
    └── guidelines.md        # paths: ["**/*.test.ts"]

Rule Format

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