| name | vow-enforcement |
| description | Classifies and enforces constraints via soft vows, hard vows, and Nen Court layers. Use when designing or auditing enforcement mechanisms for project rules. |
| alwaysApply | false |
| category | workflow-methodology |
| tags | ["enforcement","constraints","hooks","compliance","governance"] |
| dependencies | ["imbue:proof-of-work","imbue:scope-guard","imbue:justify"] |
| tools | [] |
| usage_patterns | ["constraint-classification","vow-graduation","compliance-auditing","enforcement-design"] |
| complexity | intermediate |
| model_hint | standard |
| estimated_tokens | 2800 |
| role | hook-target |
Rules that depend on willpower fail under pressure.
Enforcement earns trust by making the right path the
only path.
Vow Enforcement
Table of Contents
The Problem
ODCV-Bench found that agents break self-imposed
constraints 30-50% of the time when goals conflict.
Practitioner consensus confirms: past 150 soft rules,
compliance drops for ALL rules, not just the new ones.
The core insight: "settings.json is a firewall;
CLAUDE.md is an employee handbook." Handbooks work for
guidance. Firewalls work for enforcement. Mixing them
up creates a false sense of security.
Three Enforcement Layers
| Layer | Mechanism | Compliance | Examples |
|---|
| Soft Vow | Skill instructions, CLAUDE.md rules | ~80% | "Write tests first", "Keep commits small" |
| Hard Vow | Hooks (PreToolUse/PostToolUse), settings.json permissions | ~100% | Block --no-verify, enforce file size limits |
| Nen Court | External validator agents checking output | Deterministic | Lint checks, test runs, constraint audits |
Soft Vows rely on model compliance. Cheap to add
and easy to iterate, but unreliable under goal
conflict. Use when the constraint requires judgment,
violation is annoying but not dangerous, or you are
still learning what the right rule is.
Hard Vows block forbidden actions before they
execute via hooks and settings.json permissions. Use
when the constraint is binary, violation causes real
damage, or the soft vow version was violated
repeatedly.
Nen Court spawns external validator agents that
audit output after a phase completes. Use when the
constraint requires analysis (not pattern matching),
a hook cannot express the rule, or the check needs
codebase context.
