docs: governance workstream exploration and context consolidation

CONTEXT.md

@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ Workflow artifacts are committed to `docs/` in subdirectories by type. All are t
 ### Content chunk QA
 Instruction files and other content chunks cannot be unit tested. Verification is human-executed after implementation: open a new Claude session, exercise the relevant behaviour, and confirm the rules take effect. Each issue includes a short acceptance criteria checklist for the human to run post-commit. Automated QA applies to tooling (scripts, hooks); manual QA applies to agent behaviour and content correctness.
 
+**Instruction quality matters more than instruction presence.** In-context rules (including always-on CLAUDE.md rules) compete with the model's RLHF-trained defaults and can lose — even in a fresh session with the files correctly deployed. Flat one-liner imperatives are the weakest form. Rules that are specific, include a counter-example ("do X, not Y"), or show the boundary condition are significantly more reliable. When a behavioral test fails, the first question is whether the rule is underspecified, not whether in-context instruction-following is inherently unreliable. Do not accept rule violations as an expected baseline — treat them as a signal to strengthen the instruction.
+
 ### Conventional commits
 All commits in this repo follow the Conventional Commits specification (`feat:`, `fix:`, `docs:`, `chore:`, `refactor:`, `test:`). Convention is defined in `core/instructions/git.md`. Changelog tooling is a follow-on issue — convention is established first.
 
@@ -45,6 +47,12 @@ Projects override on-demand content (workflows, agent roles, prompts) by placing
 ### Sync model
 Projects must never edit synced files directly — customizations live in separate override files. A sync conflict is a signal that a synced file was edited directly.
 
+### Repo as source of truth
+All project state, decisions, context, and working conventions live in this repo. External memory systems should not be used for this project — they create a split-brain risk where cached state diverges from the repo. At the start of every session, read `CLAUDE.md`, `CONTEXT.md`, and `docs/VISION.md`. Everything needed to orient is here.
+
+### Working context
+This repo is built by a junior developer as a homelab tool intended to scale to professional environments. The agent should challenge ideas and reference industry standards rather than validate assumptions. Explain the why behind decisions — assume the user is learning, not just executing. Flag significant actions before taking them.
+
 ## Glossary
 
 ### Management Application