alex-core-invariants

# Alex Core Invariants Skill ## Source of Truth - Canonical policy text lives in `README.md`; on any drift with this file, README.md wins. - Link to `README.md`; never copy the invariants into another file. ## Workflow 1. Read `README.md` first. 2. Identify the canonical owner for each important truth, and flag copies — duplicated wording, features, or tests. 3. Place each changed unit in the domain taxonomy tree; flag a unit carrying two concerns, and tests that do not sit with the code they cover. 4. Flag dual-write, silent fallback, history-as-canonical, and legacy paths the change touched but kept. 5. For each new guard or test, name the failure only it catches; if there is none, it should not exist. Check that only the tests the change can affect were run. 6. Prefer self-heal from live truth over adding another truth surface. 7. If explicit failover exists, verify that it is observable and does not mutate canonical truth. 8. For problems in a standardized domain, search the official documentation before dispatching hypotheses. 9. Recommend the smallest change that restores the invariant boundary. ## Output Expectations - Findings first when doing review work. - Name the invariant, or the Simplicity rule, being violated. - Prefer fixes that remove structure — duplicates, unneeded guards and tests, legacy, ownership overlap, hidden recovery logic — over fixes that add it. - For a taxonomy finding, name the branch the unit belongs on. - Call out explicit failover separately from silent fallback. - For doc-first violations, cite the exact docs page that already had the answer.