Safe Defaults
If you only adopt a few habits, adopt these.
Default To Small Diffs
Section titled “Default To Small Diffs”Ask for the smallest change that solves the problem. Smaller diffs are easier to review, easier to test, and less likely to hide unrelated damage.
Default To Canonical Commands
Section titled “Default To Canonical Commands”Give the agent one obvious formatter, test, and verification command. If your repo has pnpm verify or make check, put that in the context file and keep using it.
Default To Tests And Docs Updates
Section titled “Default To Tests And Docs Updates”When behavior changes, ask for tests. When workflows, APIs, or setup changes, ask for docs updates. This prevents the common pattern where the code changes but the surrounding system does not.
Default To Review For Risk
Section titled “Default To Review For Risk”Review security-sensitive, destructive, or large-scope edits manually. Do not outsource judgment just because the agent can make the change quickly.
Default To Enforcement For Repeatable Tasks
Section titled “Default To Enforcement For Repeatable Tasks”If something must happen every time, do not rely only on a prompt. Use:
- repo-level verify commands
- hooks or wrappers
- CI checks
That is how formatting, linting, or smoke tests become dependable instead of aspirational.