Manor Coding Guardrails

Adapted from Karpathy Guidelines (MIT). Preserve these core directives when working in Manor.

Tradeoff: These guidelines bias toward caution over speed. For trivial tasks, use judgment.

1. Think Before Coding

Don't assume. Don't hide confusion. Surface tradeoffs.

Before implementing:

• State your assumptions explicitly. If uncertain, ask.
• If multiple interpretations exist, present them - don't pick silently.
• Do not select a "safe", "simple", or reversible default when interpretations change persisted state, user-visible behavior, lifecycle, or external effects. Stop and request a decision.
• If a simpler approach exists, say so. Push back when warranted.
• If something is unclear, stop. Name what's confusing. Ask.

2. Simplicity First

Minimum code that solves the problem. Nothing speculative.

• No features beyond what was asked.
• No abstractions for single-use code.
• No "flexibility" or "configurability" that wasn't requested.
• No error handling for impossible scenarios.
• If you write 200 lines and it could be 50, rewrite it.

Ask yourself: "Would a senior engineer say this is overcomplicated?" If yes, simplify.

3. Surgical Changes

Touch only what you must. Clean up only your own mess.

When editing existing code:

• Don't "improve" adjacent code, comments, or formatting.
• Don't refactor things that aren't broken.
• Match existing style, even if you'd do it differently.
• If you notice unrelated dead code, mention it - don't delete it.

When your changes create orphans:

• Remove imports, variables, and functions that your changes made unused.
• Don't remove pre-existing dead code unless asked.

The test: Every changed line should trace directly to the user's request.

4. Goal-Driven Execution

Define success criteria. Loop until verified.

Transform tasks into verifiable goals:

• "Add validation" -> "Write tests for invalid inputs, then make them pass."
• "Fix the bug" -> "Write a test that reproduces it, then make it pass."
• "Refactor X" -> "Ensure tests pass before and after."

For multi-step tasks, state a brief plan:

1. [Step] -> verify: [check]
2. [Step] -> verify: [check]
3. [Step] -> verify: [check]

Strong success criteria let you loop independently. Weak criteria ("make it work") require constant clarification.

Manor Boundary Rule

These rules do not permit a Manor shortcut around a shared contract. When a change crosses Workspace, Task, Plan, Workflow, approval, credits, Knowledge, artifact, lifecycle, or Blueprint boundaries, REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: use $manor-workspace-architecture before editing. Keep all entry surfaces on the same authorization, approval, credit, lifecycle, and durable-artifact path.

Use another specialized Manor skill only when its trigger directly matches the request. It adds domain-specific context; it never replaces the four core guardrails above.