name	bounded-tool-use
description	Context-efficient file and terminal usage for experiment agents
argument-hint
allowed-tools	Bash(*), Read, Edit, Write, Glob, Grep, Agent
license	MIT

Bounded Tool Use

Keep tool observations small and high-signal so planning and reporting decisions do not waste context on whole-file or whole-log dumps.

Prefer read_json for machine-readable artifacts such as reviewer reports, planner reports, and status files.
Prefer search before view when you only need a finding, metric, path, or key phrase.
Use view only with a narrow purpose. If you do not know the exact lines yet, search first, then read the smallest useful window.
Treat directory inspection as bounded discovery only. Do not repeatedly rescan whole trees once key artifacts are known.
Never request a whole file when a field, match, or line window is sufficient.

Prefer targeted commands such as rg, head, tail, jq, focused test commands, and explicit file paths.
Avoid broad cat, recursive dumps, or commands that print entire logs when a filtered command would do.
When a command produces long output, rely on the saved raw output path and follow up with targeted file inspection instead of rerunning a broad command.

Use think before multi-step edits, after reviewer failures, and after surprising tool output when you need to compare hypotheses or repair strategies.
Use think to summarize the current state before you choose the next command, task delegation, or retry.
For master and reporting work: machine-readable status files come first, raw evidence second.
For planning work: validated handoff artifacts and reviewer JSON define the canonical execution surface.
For execution work: keep raw outputs on disk, and put only the smallest necessary evidence excerpt into reports.

name	bounded-tool-use
description	Context-efficient file and terminal usage for experiment agents
argument-hint
allowed-tools	Bash(*), Read, Edit, Write, Glob, Grep, Agent
license	MIT

Keep tool observations small and high-signal so planning and reporting decisions do not waste context on whole-file or whole-log dumps.

Prefer read_json for machine-readable artifacts such as reviewer reports, planner reports, and status files.
Prefer search before view when you only need a finding, metric, path, or key phrase.
Use view only with a narrow purpose. If you do not know the exact lines yet, search first, then read the smallest useful window.
Treat directory inspection as bounded discovery only. Do not repeatedly rescan whole trees once key artifacts are known.
Never request a whole file when a field, match, or line window is sufficient.

Prefer targeted commands such as rg, head, tail, jq, focused test commands, and explicit file paths.
Avoid broad cat, recursive dumps, or commands that print entire logs when a filtered command would do.
When a command produces long output, rely on the saved raw output path and follow up with targeted file inspection instead of rerunning a broad command.

Use think before multi-step edits, after reviewer failures, and after surprising tool output when you need to compare hypotheses or repair strategies.
Use think to summarize the current state before you choose the next command, task delegation, or retry.
For master and reporting work: machine-readable status files come first, raw evidence second.
For planning work: validated handoff artifacts and reviewer JSON define the canonical execution surface.
For execution work: keep raw outputs on disk, and put only the smallest necessary evidence excerpt into reports.

bounded-tool-use