Agent Guardrails Skill
Purpose
Structured checklists that ensure the agent considers all applicable rules before and after writing code. Catches issues that would otherwise only surface during verification.
When to Invoke
- •Pre-Flight: At the start of Phase 2 (Implement), before writing any code
- •Self-Review: At the end of Phase 2 (Implement), after writing code but before Phase 3/4
Pre-Flight Checklist
Run through this checklist before writing any code:
- • Identified all applicable rules from
.agent/rules/ - • Searched for existing patterns in codebase (Pattern Discovery Protocol from
architectural-pattern.md) - • Confirmed project structure alignment (
project-structure.md) - • Identified I/O boundaries that need abstraction
- • Determined test strategy (unit/integration/E2E)
- • Reviewed
rule-priority.mdfor any potential conflicts
If any item cannot be checked, stop and resolve before proceeding.
Post-Implementation Self-Review
Run through this checklist after writing code, before verification:
Security
- • No hardcoded secrets or configuration values
- • All user input validated at system boundaries
- • Parameterized queries (no string concatenation for SQL)
Testability
- • All I/O operations behind interfaces/abstractions
- • Business logic is pure (no side effects in calculations)
- • Dependencies injected, not hardcoded
Observability
- • All public operation entry points logged (start/success/failure)
- • Structured logging with correlation IDs
- • Appropriate log levels (not everything is INFO)
Error Handling
- • Error paths handled explicitly (no empty catch blocks)
- • Errors provide context (wrapped with additional info)
- • Resources cleaned up in error paths (defer/finally)
Testing
- • Tests cover happy path
- • Tests cover at least 2 error paths
- • Tests cover edge cases relevant to the domain
Consistency
- • Follows existing codebase patterns (>80% consistency)
- • Naming conventions match the codebase
- • File organization matches
project-structure.md
Rule Compliance
This skill enforces:
- •All mandates (always-on rules)
- •Architectural Patterns @architectural-pattern.md
- •Testing Strategy @testing-strategy.md
- •Rule Priority @rule-priority.md