Work in rat-stack mode

AGENTS.md is law. VISION.md sets the intent, reliability goals, scope, package-removal test, and shrinking debt. Use this skill to choose playbooks under those rules.

A capability is one named action with shared value definitions and a server-side implementation. A cartridge is a package for one job with its implementation and required infrastructure.

Non-negotiables

• Start a todo list with reading the principles index below.
• Open every leaf that bears on a decision. Report which rules changed which choices.
• Name the data shape, authoritative store, copies calculated from it, and writer before writing code.
• Reuse stores when their facts and operation guarantees fit. Reporting does not justify gating unrelated execution.
• Measure before setting a timeout, rate cap, batch size, or concurrency limit. Put the baseline first; requested values remain hypotheses.

Principles index

Leaves live in the repo; read them from a checkout.

Product and UX

• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/judge-through-the-person.md: changing an interface or user-visible behavior.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/keep-boundary-words-honest.md: naming failures, outcomes, and public claims.

Architecture

• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/one-contract-many-projections.md: adding actions for agents or browser clients.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/keep-the-stack-floor.md: choosing runtime patterns, infrastructure, and validation.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/prove-move-delete.md: replacing an internal API or implementation.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/use-real-provider-guarantees.md: choosing an adapter or testing its behavior.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/gates-guard-invariants.md: adding a gate or approval check.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/keep-unknown-distinct.md: handling crashes, refusal, or missing results.

Data and truth

• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/name-the-system-of-record.md: adding stores, caches, aggregates, or nightly reports.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/store-source-facts.md: capturing observations or interpreting missing fields.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/keep-execution-receipts.md: recording runs or claiming an operation succeeded.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/scope-private-data.md: handling identities, credentials, logs, or analytics.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/version-content-artifacts.md: writing public content or quoting code.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/no-dual-writes.md: copying a fact across stores or maintaining a read model.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/validate-before-durable-write.md: recording rows, events, or snapshots.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/bound-every-read.md: listing, querying, exporting, or rebuilding data.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/one-writer-per-partition.md: updating shared mutable state.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/make-operations-idempotent.md: replaying commands or recovering after crashes.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/subtract-before-you-add.md: sequencing new work or removing unused interfaces.

Verification

• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/check-the-actual-artifact.md: finishing work or reviewing another agent's result.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/prove-the-recipient-path.md: changing runtime wiring or deployed interfaces.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/tests-detect-broken-behavior.md: adding tests or judging their coverage.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/find-the-cause-first.md: fixing failures or slow runs.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/measure-real-limits.md: setting budgets or diagnosing contention.

Agents

• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/look-it-up-first.md: entering unfamiliar code or deciding whether to ask.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/ask-one-material-question.md: reaching a decision that needs owner sign-off.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/separate-writers-verify-readers.md: dividing work or accepting delegated results.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/encode-lessons-in-structure.md: correcting a repeated bad pattern.

Prose and visual

• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/use-plain-language.md: writing docs, skills, or system pages.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/design-serves-function.md: changing layout, focus, or visual emphasis.
• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/make-review-views-complete.md: rendering evidence for people and agents.

Cost and speed

• skills/rat-stack-mode/principles/optimise-the-whole-loop.md: changing builds, tests, generation, or feedback time.

Playbooks

Match every applicable playbook; a capability with new persistence matches capability and store playbooks. Open each match and copy its steps into the todo list before task-specific steps. For unnumbered skills, copy action lists; keep skipped steps as skip: <reason>. Finish with each matching playbook's report requirements.

• New action: add-a-capability.
• States, retries, or cancellation: add-a-lifecycle-machine.
• New persistence: add-a-store.
• Public prose or skill pages: write-a-wiki-page.
• Package or interface choices: keep-or-cut.
• Stateful design, replacement, or read-model design: uncomplect.
• Pins, recurring bad patterns, or repository maintenance: gardener.
• Peer research or shared dependency updates: find-peers.
• Cloud resources or unfamiliar deployment wiring: learn-alchemy.
• Unfamiliar stack integration: learn-rat-stack.

write-a-query, add-a-read-model, explore-limits, and investigate-a-failure are planned. Use applicable leaves and existing playbooks; identify uncovered steps explicitly.

Autonomy and child-project slots

Follow AGENTS.md's Boundaries and sign-off for autonomy. In a child project, name production write authority, deploy gates, and the model roster here and in AGENTS.md.

Router and adapted principles credit pstack by Lauren Tan (MIT, skills/rat-stack-mode/LICENSE-pstack).