# Lessons Patterns observed during development of this repo. Three or more entries on the same pattern → promote to CONTEXT.md (or the relevant instruction file) as a standing rule. **Graduation rule:** When three or more entries cover the same pattern, the human reviews and promotes it to the appropriate standing location: `CONTEXT.md` for domain-level principles, `core/instructions/coding.md` for coding conventions, `core/instructions/git.md` for git conventions, or `core/instructions/testing.md` for testing conventions. The graduated entries are marked `[graduated → target file]` rather than deleted (audit trail). **Who writes here:** The session-handoff skill (Chunk 3) prompts LESSONS.md extraction before closing a session. The human may also write directly. **What belongs here:** Non-obvious observations — a rule that was misapplied, a pattern that caused friction, a decision that turned out wrong in practice. Not summaries of what was built (that's git history) or planned changes (that's issues). --- ## 2026-05-17 — "Read at session start" is a behavioral hope, not a guarantee The repo CLAUDE.md instructs agents to read CONTEXT.md and ROADMAP.md at session start, but agents skip this in practice — defaulting to reading only what's directly relevant to the immediate prompt (e.g. the skills folder). The governance.md works because `@import` is technically enforced by Claude Code. Fix: (1) add `@CONTEXT.md` to repo CLAUDE.md using `@import` to make it always-loaded; (2) add a "Key decisions" section to CONTEXT.md with one-line resolved-ADR summaries so locked choices are always in context. ROADMAP stays on-demand. ## 2026-05-17 — Instruction rules lose to RLHF defaults without specificity Behavioral tests (2026-05-17) showed three communication/behavior rules failing: exploratory question format (gave verbose multi-bullet answer instead of 2-3 sentences), file edit intent (asked for clarification instead of stating intent and proceeding), and push confirmation (went straight to tool call instead of asking first). All three rules are present in `providers/claude-code/CLAUDE.md` as one-liner statements. The RLHF-trained defaults (thorough answers, risk-averse clarification seeking, fast execution) consistently outcompete thin rules. Fix: rewrite failing rules with specificity, a counter-example, and a boundary statement — not just a single-line imperative. ## 2026-05-17 — Secrets rule gap: response text not covered The secrets prohibition in `core/instructions/governance.md` fired correctly when asked to write a password to a file, but the agent then reproduced the literal credential in its response text (in a shell `export` example). The rule was interpreted as "don't write to files" not "don't output at all." Fix: the rule needs to explicitly state "never produce the credential value in any output" and give an example showing placeholder usage (`export DB_PASSWORD=''`). ## 2026-05-17 — HITL gap: agent delegates confirmation to permission system The agent-level HITL rule ("require explicit confirmation before irreversible shared-state operations") is being bypassed: the agent calls the tool and lets the permission dialog catch it. This means the rule is not firing in agent reasoning — it's the permission system acting as a safety net. If a user selects "don't ask again," the net disappears. Fix: the HITL rule needs to be framed as "do not call the tool" rather than "ask before proceeding" — the agent must ask first, then act only after explicit confirmation.