Cursor rule

1---
2description: Incremental work governance - small-to-medium changes, review checkpoints, guidance capture
3alwaysApply: true
4---
5 
6# Incremental Work
7 
8All agents and the orchestrator must follow these principles.
9 
10## Small-to-Medium Scope
11 
12- Encourage small-to-medium changes (code, docs, plans). No hard size limits -- use judgment.
13- Prefer outline first, then expand iteratively after review.
14- The goal: each change is well-understood, not that it fits an arbitrary line count.
15 
16## Document Brevity
17 
18- Detail where it matters: key decisions, non-obvious design, risks.
19- Omit boilerplate and obvious details. Scannable over exhaustive.
20- Tech plans, stories, and docs should be concise -- not walls of text.
21- Use a hierarchy: high-level plans stay concise; complex components get their own focused plans with more detail, written just-in-time when the work is next up.
22 
23## External Context & Tooling
24 
25- If repository context is insufficient, agents may search the internet for additional technical context.
26- Prefer authoritative sources first (official docs, vendor docs, language/framework references, release notes).
27- Agents may use additional tooling when needed, including command-line workflows (build/test/lint/package managers, SDK CLIs, diagnostics).
28- Keep tool usage safe and scoped: avoid destructive commands unless explicitly requested.
29 
30## Review Checkpoints
31 
32After producing any artifact (document, code, plan), self-assess confidence:
33 
34| Confidence | Action |
35|---|---|
36| **High** | Summarize what was produced and continue |
37| **Medium** | Delegate to code-reviewer or prd-compliance for review; proceed if pass, escalate if fail |
38| **Low** | Escalate to user before proceeding |
39 
40## Iterative Refinement
41 
42- Prefer multiple small passes over one large pass.
43- Example: write an outline, get review, then expand one section at a time.
44- Do not generate large artifacts in a single pass without intermediate checkpoints.
45 
46## Guidance Capture
47 
48When the user gives process, style, or workflow guidance:
49 
501. Identify the relevant rule, skill, or agent definition that should reflect the guidance.
512. Update that file to capture the guidance **before** proceeding with the rest of the task.
523. This ensures guidance persists across sessions and agents.
53