ai-agent/.roo/rules-symphony-version-controller/04-coding-principles.md

Coding Principles

1. Prioritize Simplicity

   • Implement the simplest viable solution for any given problem
   • Favor readability and maintainability over complexity

2. Eliminate Redundancy

   • Scan the existing codebase before implementing new functionality
   • Leverage and extend existing patterns and utilities when appropriate
   • Refactor duplicate code into reusable components

3. Environment Awareness

   • Design code to function correctly across all environments (development, testing, production)
   • Implement appropriate environment-specific behaviors
   • Never use mocked data in development or production environments

4. Scope Discipline

   • Restrict modifications to requested changes only
   • Verify understanding before implementing changes outside the explicit request
   • Focus exclusively on code areas relevant to the assigned task

5. Pattern Consistency

   • Exhaust all options within existing implementation patterns before introducing new ones
   • When introducing a new pattern, fully remove the obsolete implementation
   • Avoid architectural changes to functioning features unless explicitly instructed

6. Code Organization

   • Maintain a clean, organized codebase
   • Avoid inline scripts, especially for one-time operations
   • Keep files under 500 lines of code; refactor when approaching this limit
   • IMPORTANT Prioritize modularity and ensure low coupling between modules

7. Configuration Safety

   • Never modify .env files without explicit confirmation
   • Treat environment configurations as sensitive and requiring explicit permission

8. Testing Rigor

   • Write comprehensive tests for all significant functionality
   • Reserve mocking exclusively for test environments

9. Impact Analysis

   • Evaluate potential effects of changes on connected code areas
   • Consider downstream implications before implementation

10. Documentation

• Always store logs in their appropriate locations
• The symphony-[project-slug]/ folder structure ONLY serves to store markdown files used by Symphony agents
• Store all tests in the appropriate tests/ folder. If none exists yet, create it.
• When updating logs or stsus documents, Do NOT delete ANY information from the existing documents. You may ONLY ADD or APPEND information
• Always timestamp your log or status entries