ad-rules

<background_information> Loads the rules in force and reinforces them by listing their topics in the conversation. Nothing else — it does not check work against them (ad-audit), does not change them (ad-level-up), and writes no files.

It exists because the practitioner's cross-project rules live in the host's global instruction file, at a path that differs per machine — often a symlink into a personal workflow repo — so every session opened with the same manual instruction: read this file, bring the topics. Restating the rules is the point, not a side effect: rules that are never re-read stop binding. What should not repeat is the path archaeology. </background_information>

Route elsewhere when:

• The work should be checked against the rules → ad-audit.
• A rule should be added, sharpened, merged, or retired → ad-level-up.
• Documentation-vs-code drift is the question → ad-drift.
• "What do I do next" is the question → ad-next.

Step 1 — resolve the host's global rules. This is the primary target and the reason the skill exists.

Check the canonical per-host locations. Resolve symlinks with -f and report both ends — a global CLAUDE.md is very often a symlink into a personal workflow repo, and the real path is the one the user edits. A broken link is its own state: report "found, target missing" rather than letting it read as absent, since that is a rules file the user believes they still have.

for p in ~/.codex/AGENTS.md ~/.codex/instructions.md ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md ~/.claude/AGENTS.md; do
  if [ -L "$p" ]; then
    if [ -e "$p" ]; then echo "LINK   $p -> $(readlink -f "$p")"
    else echo "BROKEN $p -> $(readlink "$p") (target missing)"; fi
  elif [ -e "$p" ]; then
    echo "FILE   $p"
  fi
done

If none resolves, search for a practitioner file under the names these carry in the wild — AGENTS.<initials>.md, AGENTS.global.md, CLAUDE.md, rules.md — and present what you found for the user to pick. Never assume the first hit is theirs; always name a file outside the repo before opening it:

find "$HOME" -maxdepth 4 \( -iname 'AGENTS*.md' -o -iname 'CLAUDE.md' \) \
  -not -path '*/node_modules/*' -not -path '*/.git/*' 2>/dev/null | head -20

When more than one canonical path resolves, the first in the list above wins — this host's own file — and the others are reported as also-present rather than merged. An absent global layer is a valid state, not an error. Say so plainly rather than manufacturing a source.

When the file resolves only by search — not at a canonical host path — say so and name the durable fix: symlink it into the host location so every future session picks it up without being told.

ln -s "<real path>" ~/.codex/AGENTS.md

Print the command; never run it. Creating symlinks in the user's home is theirs to approve.

Step 2 — resolve the kit's rule-set layers. Secondary, and by reference: the three-layer union and its precedence are defined by ADR-0035 and ADR-0043, restated canonically in CONTEXT.md's rule-set glossary entry, and implemented by ad-audit Step 1. Read those; do not re-derive the algorithm here, and do not let this skill become a fourth copy that drifts from them.

Report each layer as found or absent — absent and empty are different states, and a report that collapses them tells the reader nothing.

Step 3 — surface the topics. For each resolved source extract topics, not contents: a heading or rule-group name plus a clause saying what it governs. The user is deciding what to read, not reading it here. Keep the source visible per topic — a rule the user forgot they wrote lands differently when they can see which file it came from.

Order by binding force: the host's global rules first — they are what the user asked to be reminded of and they govern every repo — then the repo's binding docs, then project rules, then the machine store. Within a source preserve its own order; do not re-rank by your own judgement of importance.

Flag inline: conflicts (a project rule shadowing a machine-store rule, both texts quoted) and staleness signals (a rule naming a file, flag, or command that no longer exists). Report staleness; never fix it — that is ad-level-up's job and it requires the human gate.

Step 4 — report:

## Rules in force — <repo name>

### Global — <resolved path><, symlinked from <link> if applicable>
- <topic> — <what it governs>
(or "absent — no CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md at a canonical host path")

### Repo binding docs
- `AGENTS.md` — <n> topics: <topic>, <topic>, …
- `ARCHITECTURE.md` — <n> topics: …
- `GUIDELINES.md` — <n> topics: …
- Accepted ADRs — <n>: <ADR-NNNN short title>, …

### Kit rule-set layers (per ADR-0035 / ADR-0043)
- Machine store — <resolved path, or "absent">
- Project rules — <`.agentic/rules/`, or "absent">

### Conflicts
<project rule shadowing a machine-store rule, both quoted — or "none">

### Staleness
<rules citing files/flags that no longer exist — or "none">

Close with one line naming what the user most likely wanted: the single topic most relevant to the work in progress, or the symlink fix when the global file resolved only by search.

<output_contract>

• Writes nothing. Reads only.
• Every source is reported, including absent ones — absent and empty are distinguishable.
• The global file's real path is reported, with the symlink it was reached through when there was one.
• Topics carry their source file; contents are not dumped.
• Conflicts and staleness are reported, never resolved.
• The kit's three-layer resolution is referenced (ADR-0035 / ADR-0043 / CONTEXT.md / ad-audit Step 1), never re-derived here.
• When the global file resolves only by search, the ln -s command is printed and never run.
• No audit verdict, no approval, no rule text changed. </output_contract>

Next

• Check the work against what surfaced → ad-audit.
• A rule that is wrong, duplicated, or missing → ad-level-up (human-gated; never writes unapproved).
• A rule citing something that no longer exists → ad-drift for the full documentation-vs-code sweep.