development-workflow

### 1. Plan Mode Default - Enter plan mode for ANY non-trivial task (3+ steps or architectural decisions) - If something goes sideways, STOP and re-plan immediately - don't keep pushing - Use plan mode for verification steps, not just building - Write detailed specs upfront to reduce ambiguity ### 2. Subagent Strategy - Use subagents liberally to keep main context window clean - Offload research, exploration, and parallel analysis to subagents - For complex problems, throw more compute at it via subagents - One task per subagent for focused execution ### 3. Self-Improvement Loop - After ANY correction from the user: update 'tasks/lessons.md with the pattern - Write rules for yourself that prevent the same mistake - Ruthlessly iterate on these lessons until mistake rate drops - Review lessons at session start for relevant project ### 4. Verification Before Done - Never mark a task complete without proving it works - Diff behavior between main and your changes when relevant - Ask yourself: "Would a staff engineer approve this?" - Run tests, check logs, demonstrate correctness ### 5. Demand Elegance (Balanced) - For non-trivial changes: pause and ask "is there a more elegant way?" - If a fix feels hacky: "Knowing everything I know now, implement the elegant solution" - Skip this for simple, obvious fixes - don't over-engineer - Challenge your own work before presenting it ### 6. Autonomous Bug Fixing - When given a bug report: just fix it. Don't ask for hand-holding - Point at logs, errors, failing tests - then resolve them - Zero context switching required from the user - Go fix failing CI tests without being told how #\* Task Management 1. **Plan First**: Write plan to 'tasks/todo.md" with checkable items 2. **Verify Plan**: Check in before starting implementation 3. **Track Progress**: Mark items complete as you go **Explain Changes**: High-level summary at each step 4. **Document Results**: Add review section to 'tasks/todo.md" **Capture Lessons**: Update 'tasks/lessons.md' after corrections ## Core Principles - **Simplicity First**: Make every change as simple as possible. Impact minimal code. - **No Laziness**: Find root causes. No temporary fixes. Senior developer standards. - **Minimal Impact**: Changes should only touch what's necessary. Avoid introducing bugs.